Why Indian American Voters Matter
There are currently approximately 5.2 million people of Indian origin living in the United States, of whom 3.9 million are over the age of 18. A Carnegie Endowment for International Peace report on Indian voter preferences based on 2022 data estimates that there are currently about 2.6 million eligible Indian American voters. Although the Indian diaspora makes up a small portion of the overall electorate, several factors have contributed to the increased focus on this group in this election. The report says:
Between 2010 and 2020, the Indian American community grew by 50%, making it the second largest immigrant community by country of origin after Mexican Americans. Data from the Indian American Attitudes Survey (IAAS) conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace shows that 96% of registered Indian American voters are likely to vote in this election.
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The report also says the Indian American community’s high socioeconomic status makes it an attractive target for campaigns run by both parties. The average household income of Indian Americans is approximately $153,000, more than double the overall income in the United States.
Surveys show that Asian Americans are increasingly shifting their loyalties from their traditional Democratic preferences to the Republican Party. Harris’s Indian roots and the presence of Usha Vance and Vivek Ramaswamy in this election brought out the Indian factor.
Indian American voters living in swing states
A total of over 160 million voters are expected to vote in US elections, but that includes just 500,000 Indian-American voters in seven swing states. In the seven so-called swing states that will decide the presidential primary, 400,000 Asians have lost their jobs over the past four years, said Shekar Narasimhan, national chairman of the AAPI Victory Fund, a political action committee that supports some Democrats. It said Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders became new potential voters through immigration, citizenship or turning 18. Bloomberg.
Indian Americans are the largest Asian ethnic group in Georgia, numbering 177,310, according to figures from AAPI Data, a leading research and policy organization producing data on Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. Pennsylvania has the second largest number of Indian Americans with 166,355, followed by Michigan with 129,025, North Carolina with 124,397, Arizona with 68,957, Wisconsin with 37,264 and Nevada with 19,828.
Shalabh Shalli Kumar, a Trump-supporting businessman and founder of the Republican Hindu Coalition, told ANI: “The battleground states are very competitive. There’s no question about that. But compared to 2016, at this point, Hillary was five or six points ahead in the polls, and this time, I say yes, in the next 24, 36 hours. “Unless something happens, President Trump will win,” he said.
“The difference here is that in the battleground states there are Hindu and Indian votes. The seven battleground states together add up to almost a million votes. Hindu and Indian Americans will decide who the next president of the United States will be,” he added.
Indian Americans Shift to Democratic Party
Historically, Indian Americans have leaned heavily toward the Democratic Party. But recent research shows a notable shift in these loyalties. According to the 2024 IAAS survey, only 47% of Indian Americans now identify as Democrats, down from 56% in 2020. This decline suggests growing dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party, especially among younger voters and men in the community.
The approval rating for Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate and current Vice President of Indian origin, is also declining. About 61% of Indian-American respondents said they intended to vote for Harris, down nearly 7 percentage points from their support for Joe Biden in 2020.
The 2024 election has made Indian American voters a notable political force. As more of these people become politically mobilized and realize the value of voting, they are likely to have more influence on American politics.
(Based on the opinion of the institution)
