Multiracial Identity and Political Preferences

Increases in racial minority populations are profoundly reshaping the composition of the American electorate, and multiracial identifiers are one of the fastest growing groups. Yet little is known about the political ideology and policy preferences of Americans who identify with more than one race. We address this gap here by examining the political views of the two biggest US multiracial groups-White-Asians and White-Blacks. We also advance prior work by assessing the role that linked fate, racial group closeness, and race salience play in explaining multiracials' political attitudes. Leveraging the largest national political survey of multiracial adults to date, we find that White-Asian and White-Black multiracials are on the whole more progressive than Whites, expressing levels of linked fate and social and racial attitudes that are comparable to those of their minority race. We argue that the growth in these multiracial populations seems most likely to benefit the Democratic Party.