Nearly two-thirds of all Indian-Americans plan to vote for US Vice-President and Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris in the November 5 presidential elections. There has also been a slight increase in support for former US President Donald Trump among this key community in the United States.
A new survey, titled ‘2024 Indian-American Attitudes’, conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in partnership with the research and analytics firm YouGov, has said that Indian-Americans remain solidly behind the Democratic Party, but a modest uptick is seen in support for the Republican Party.
According to the survey, 61 per cent of registered Indian-American voter respondents plan to vote for Harris, while 32 per cent intend to vote for Trump.
The analysis is based on a nationally representative online survey of 714 Indian-American citizens between September 18 and October 15. The survey has an overall margin of error of +/- 3.7 per cent.
Publishing the results, the survey organisers said that there was a modest increase in the share of respondents willing to vote for Trump since 2020.
Harris has the support of 67 per cent of Indian-American women and 53 per cent of Indian-American men.
Trump has the support of 22 per cent of Indian-American women and 39 per cent of Indian-American men.
This gender gap was widest with younger voters, according to the survey.
Incidentally, the community organisation Indian American Impact has been working with the North American Association of Indian Students (NAAIS) to increase voter registration in the month of October 2024, when people of Indian origin in America came together for Navaratri and Diwali celebrations. To this end, it ran a campaign named ‘NaVoteri’.
An Instagram post by NAAIS yesterday said: “October has been all about NaVoteri to get the desi vote out! @iaimpact and NAAIS are all across the country hosting voter registration and awareness drives for the past month at garbas and Diwali events! From the battleground states of Michigan to Arizona to states with large Indian populations like Florida and Ohio, you’ll see us trying to get the youth vote to come out!”
Indian-American voter bloc importance in the US
There are more than 5.2 million people of Indian origin residing in the United States.
Indian-Americans are now the second-largest immigrant group in the United States. They have emerged as an important political actor, thanks to the community’s rapid demographic growth, the close margins in modern presidential elections, and the remarkable professional success of the Indian diaspora.
Abortion and reproductive rights are a highly salient issue for Indian-Americans in this election year, ranking as their second-most-important policy concern (after inflation/prices and tied with the economy and jobs).
Democrats and women are especially motivated by abortion in this election cycle, the survey said.
“Although Indian-Americans hold a dim view of many prominent Republican leaders, the party’s disadvantage with Indian-Americans goes beyond personalities,” the report suggested.
It said that the Republican Party was out of sync with multiple policy positions held by members of the Indian-American community.
“When Democrats are asked why they do not identify as Republicans, they cite the latter’s intolerance of minorities, its stance on abortion, and ties to Christian evangelicalism, above all,” said the survey report.
According to the report, respondents rate Indian-American Republicans such as Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Usha Vance (wife of the Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance) unfavourably.
“However, there is evidence of asymmetric polarisation: Democrats rate prominent Republicans worse than Republicans assess leading Democrats,” the report said.
Out of 5.2 million people of Indian origin residing in the US, about 3.9 million are 18 years of age or older. Based on 2022 data, there are roughly 2.6 million eligible Indian-American voters in the US.
While the Indian diaspora comprises a small share of the overall electorate, several factors account for the heightened attention to this group in this election year.
First, Indian-Americans were “high propensity” voters, the report said. Data from the Indian-American Attitudes Survey (IAAS) said that 96 per cent of registered Indian-American voters were likely to vote in this November’s presidential elections.
Second, the community’s elevated socio-economic status made it an attractive target for campaigns run by both parties. The median household income for Indian-Americans is roughly USD 153,000, more than double the figure for the country as a whole.
“Third, there is undoubtedly increased attention on the political views of Indian-Americans this election year because Kamala Harris, whose mother was an Indian immigrant, is on the ballot. While Harris has long identified as an African-American woman, she also acknowledges and embraces her Indian heritage,” the report said.
“Last but not least, there is some evidence suggesting that Asian-Americans may be gradually shifting their allegiance from the Democratic Party, their traditional home, towards the Republican Party. Compared to other racial groups, Asian-Americans tend to have weaker attachments to political parties, and recent elections have seen an incremental shift in this group’s voting behaviour in favour of the Republican Party, a trend observed among other non-White voters as well,” said the survey report.
—With inputs from CtoI News Desk
