Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) have played a pivotal role in shaping Democratic Party politics for decades. In 1990, at the Texas Democratic State Convention in Houston, the Asian American Democrats of Texas, Inc. (AADT) was established. Led by founding members Robert W. Gee, Gordon Quan, Mark Lee, and Judy Lee, AADT was officially recognized as a caucus of the Texas Democratic Party (TDP), becoming the sole representative of the AANHPI community in the state.

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In the years that followed, leaders such as Rogene Gee Calvert, Judge Hannah Chow, and Judge Toni Ingversen took on leadership roles within AADT.​ In the early 2000s, Houston businessman Bien Tran served as AADT President, leading the organization until 2006.

 

The 2006 Texas Democratic State Convention in Fort Worth marked a historic milestone: AANHPIs were elected to the State Democratic Executive Committee for the first time. Farrukh Shamsi (SD 7) and Arif Gafur (SD 17) became their respective senate districts' representatives on the SDEC, and state party rules were amended to include two perpetual add-on members from the AANHPI community. As a result, Mini Timmaraju, then-President of AADT, and former Vice President AJ Durrani joined the SDEC as members that year.

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In 2012, Farrukh Shamsi was elected Vice Chair for Finance of the state party, achieving the third-highest position in state leadership. In 2016, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) granted Texas a new at-large seat. During the Texas Democratic State Convention in San Antonio that year, AJ Durrani became the first AANHPI from Texas to be elected to the DNC. Kathleen Hoang was simultaneously elected as the DNC youth representative, making them the first AANHPIs from Texas elected to the DNC.

 

Since 1990, more than 50 AANHPIs have served as national delegates to the Democratic National Conventions.