Ethiopian voters in Virginia sought a republican leader, Glenn Youngkin after the Biden administration disappoints Ethiopia. 

Some Ethiopian Americans in Virginia heeded calls to cast a vote for the GOP at the polls earlier this month amid a coordinated effort to express disapproval with how President Biden has handled growing conflict in the East African nation.

Leaders of the effort say that authorizing sanctions on Ethiopia and cutting off trade benefits, is reflecting the expectations of the US on the outcome. 

Ethiopia’s government has described the US’s actions as “misguided” and “regrettable.” The Foreign Ministry tweeted a statement saying the government would not be deterred by the sanctions.

“The government’s approach is so illogical at this point that we have to show we are disappointed in an area that can potentially hurt the Democratic Party,” said Mesfin Tegenu, chairman of the American-Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee (AEPAC).

But, with the ongoing Tigray conflict and US sanctions, observers, including the former US ambassador to Ethiopia, David Shinn, fear that this strong relationship has been damaged.

“The relationship between the US and [Ethiopia and Eritrea] will go through difficult times in the weeks ahead unless significant progress is made in resolving the humanitarian problem in the Tigray region,” Shinn said.

And with seemingly no response to their concerns from the White House, Organizers with the group said they put out mass messaging on social media, canvassed at Ethiopian Orthodox churches and restaurants in the D.C. suburbs, and texted thousands of people in hopes of rallying community members to vote for Youngkin.

Virginia is home to about 30,000 immigrants from Ethiopia — about 1 in 8 of all Ethiopians nationwide, according to estimates from the Migration Policy. Fairfax County and Alexandria have some of the highest concentrations of Ethiopians in the country.