Experts say Indian Americans are solidifying their position as a political force after Indian Americans surpassed Chinese Americans to become the largest single population of Asian descent in the United States. By 2024, they will become a group that politicians cannot ignore. From grassroots efforts to voter registration and running for office. , The presence of Indian Americans in American politics is rapidly increasing.
“This is a community that is waking up to the power it has in the electoral arena,” said Chintan Patel, executive director of voter engagement group Indian American Impact.
In the 2020 U.S. Census, 4.4 million people identified as “single Indian” or 100% Indian, surpassing the previous record for “single Chinese.” The milestone showed how quickly India’s population has grown over the past decade, although the Chinese remain the country’s largest Asian group when considering multiracial Americans.
Patel said that in many states and counties where races are close, winning a significant portion of the Indian American vote could make a big difference for many candidates. In states like Arizona, where the number of Indian Americans is greater than President Joe Biden’s margin of victory in 2020, their turnout could be decisive.
“What’s really important is that we don’t take our communities for granted and we don’t think of them as voters who just show up and vote, as we have in the past,” Patel said. “But we also need to continually talk to them, persuade them and listen to their concerns within the community, because again, they are now closing the gap in victory.”
Indian Americans, one of the most pro-Democratic groups in the country, make up 68% of Americans and are starting to ask tough questions of both parties.
2016, 2018, and 2020 all saw record turnout among Asian Americans, including South Asians. But experts say many are starting to question Biden’s record on issues such as Gaza.
Karthik Ramakrishnan, founder and executive director of AAPI Data, said President Biden’s approval ratings among the AAPI community are declining. For Indian Americans in particular, that number now stands at 43%.
But Ramakrishnan said he suspected the decline meant fewer Indian voters would turn up to the polls or refuse to vote for Democrats. He says issues that are important to demographics, such as abortion, racism and discrimination, are far more likely to sway votes.
“Indian Americans are disappointed in Mr. Biden,” he said. “But when you compare Biden’s favorability ratings to Trump’s favorability ratings, Trump is unlikely to make much headway among Indian American voters.”
While Indian Americans are active in many industries, politics is an area where Indian American representation is severely lacking, Patel said. But he feels the tide has turned. Current issues concern young and old, immigrants and U.S.-born voters and candidates, he said.
Like other Asian Americans, their top priorities include inflation, immigration, and climate change. They are strong supporters of reproductive rights and gun control and are less likely to support candidates with whom they disagree on racial justice issues, experts say.AAPI Data/AP-Norc The report showed that
“While our concerns are broadly consistent with the American public and national discourse, our lived experience is deeply rooted in anti-AAPI hatred, discrimination, and what we must do as a nation to combat it.” It also brings us to a particular point of emphasis: Islamophobia is on the rise right now,” Patel said.
Opinions of two first-time SA voters
Kirti Moteka, 20, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, said that as a young person voting in her first presidential election, she has a clear idea of what will make her vote.
“As a Texas student and as a South Asian and the daughter of immigrants, the most important issue to me would definitely be reproductive rights,” she said. “I want to know exactly where I have the freedom to choose what I want to do with my body and where I don’t, especially because it’s so difficult.”
She says access to health care has been a top priority for her since COVID-19, as has education equity and student loans. She also said Texas has a large South Asian population, and she hopes more people in the community will register to vote and get involved.
“I think there are times when many immigrants are afraid to express their opinions publicly, to go out and vote, or think that their vote doesn’t matter,” she said. To tell. “I’d like to see how we can change that.”
For Shri Vedachalam (40 years old), this November will be his first presidential election as a voter. Mr. Vedachalam immigrated to the United States in 2005 and has always followed American politics, but he only became a citizen in 2021.
The Virginia resident said he was deeply disappointed in President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and his behavior during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. He is leaning toward voting for Biden, who has worked to grow the middle class, reduce inflation and restore jobs.
However, one of the major stains on Mr. Biden’s presidency is his handling of Israel’s war in Gaza.
“I think the United States has a great deal of leverage to stop the ongoing war in Gaza, and we are failing to do so,” he said. “It’s hard to see daily casualties and relentless bombing.”
Gaza is a major issue of interest to South Asians and other Asian Americans this election cycle, experts say. In a March survey, two-thirds of AAPI adults said they disapproved of Biden’s handling of the war.
This trend is even more pronounced among younger voters, with the same report finding that 77% of AAPIs between the ages of 18 and 29 disapprove of the president’s response.
Antony Ghanaryan, 30, an Indian American from Pennsylvania, voted for Biden in 2020 and has voted Democratic since he became eligible to vote. He says he won’t do that this year.
“After the riots and his blatant Islamophobic policies, Donald Trump is someone I don’t even want to consider as a candidate for the presidential seat,” Ghanarian said. “But I’m even more disappointed in the Biden administration. What I’m disappointed in is obviously the situation in Gaza.”
Ghanarian described himself as a single-issue voter this term, saying his support for a candidate depends on whether he supports a permanent cease-fire. He plans to vote unopposed in the primary and either vote for the Green Party or write for president.
“The Biden administration continues to provide political cover, continue to gift money, and continue to send weapons to Israel so that it can continue to harm innocent civilians,” he said. “So I realized that the lack of human rights was really scary.”
Sumer Shaikh, 30, an Indian-American Muslim, said he is working on the election after seeing the rise of Islamophobia in the United States. In the past, she said, she has always seen a Democrat in the White House as a positive, but she feels this year it’s a Muslim. Americans continue to be ignored.
“All of this bad stuff is happening now under a Democratic president,” she said. “What will be different in November if our leaders don’t truly listen to the voices of their voters and the communities that put them in office in the first place? This is exactly the case with President Biden. .”
Some voters are pushing the relationship between Trump and Modi in their campaign
Priti Pandya-Patel, 54, a Republican voter in New Jersey, plans to vote for Trump in part because of his friendship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and how it will strengthen the relationship between the United States and India. Shitaka says.
“He’s very proud of India and very proud of the Indian community,” she said. “I feel like we were much better off when he was president.”
Patel heads the state’s Republican Party’s South Asian Coalition and said he has traveled across New Jersey to try to get more Indian Americans to vote. He said he is disappointed in Biden for a number of reasons, including feeling that inflation is out of control. She says homeless people in neighboring cities aren’t getting the resources they need, and she worries that undocumented immigrants will get them instead.
“The cost of living has tripled, everything is going up, but there is no salary,” she said.
As a healthcare consultant, she says she also sees these changes in the medical field. Underfunded hospitals, poor health care and rampant drug addiction all concern her.
“Hospitals aren’t making money, doctors aren’t making money, and healthcare providers and facilities aren’t being able to care for patients the way they need to be cared for,” she said.
Sikh Americans get involved and run for public office
Kavneet Singh, acting executive director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said he feels there are concerns within the community about a variety of issues, from AI to voting rights to religious profiling.
Many Sikh Americans work in fields not typically associated with the Indian American diaspora. Their long history in the United States includes Sikh railroad workers, truck drivers, and small business owners. Singh says they are concerned about a fair minimum wage, gas prices, and labor automation, such as self-driving cars.
He said communities are taking these issues into their own hands by running for office.
“You’ve seen this generation recognize the responsibility they have to give back through public service and are beginning to take real leadership in shaping the policies of the states and local governments in which we live. I think it was,” he said.
The rise of South Asian American candidates
Patel said he’s noticed an explosion in the number of South Asian Americans campaigning in recent years. Last year, a historic number of Indian Americans served in Congress. He said these people are popping up at every election level, from city councils to state offices to the president.
“Candidates reflect their communities,” he said. “The shared values of South Asia really come through. These candidates value giving back to their communities. They value a strong economy, strong education, climate, and safety.”
Community members are divided on Vice President Kamala Harris, the most prominent Indian-American in public office, whose approval rating among Indian voters will decline from 62% to 56% from 2022 to 2023. did. But Patel says her presence on the national stage is definitely having an impact. People were inspired to develop their own movements.
“This event signaled nationally that South Asians can participate in politics and can succeed at such high levels of politics,” Patel said. “I think it really inspired a lot of South Asian volunteers and activists, people from communities who were participating but never imagined they’d be on the ballot.”
Two of this year’s most prominent Indian American candidates, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, did not make much of an impression on the South Asian community. But experts said this proves that while representatives encourage participation, voters want people who align with their values. For Indian Americans, these values tend to be progressive.
“Our community knows what they want,” Patel said.
But 2024 means new faces entering the scene, including young second-generation Americans like Ashwin Ramaswamy, the 24-year-old running for Georgia Senate. to immigrants like Anil Kumar, who worked as a doctor. He has been a congressman for 30 years and is currently running for the Michigan State Assembly.
“They are actually a diverse part of the entire South Asian diaspora,” Patel said. “These are candidates who are firmly rooted in the community and responsive to the needs of the community.”
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