How the small but rich Indian American community votes — and why

Around 2.6 cardinal Indian Americans are eligible to vote, according to the Indian American Attitudes Survey (IAAS) 2024, published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. These are “high propensity” voters, and an astonishing 96% of Indian Americans registered to ballot volition apt extremity up voting successful the 2024 election, according to IAAS data.

Crucially, the “Asian Indian” taste radical (including persons from Pakistan and Bangladesh) has a colonisation of much than 700,000 successful 7 battleground states, according to the Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote), a non-profit probe radical and civic engagement advocacy. Of these 350,000-450,000 Asian Indians are eligible to vote.

The 7 battlegrounds — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — are wherever the contention for the presidency is expected to beryllium decided. Several metropolitan areas successful these plaything states person ample concentrations of Indian Americans — for example, successful Atlanta, Georgia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Detroit, Michigan — who tin perchance plaything a choky contention 1 mode oregon the other.

Notably, successful rather a fewer states, the community’s colonisation is larger than the borderline of triumph successful the 2020 statesmanlike election.

Both Democrats and Republicans person besides wooed Indian Americans for predetermination funding. Indian Americans are little than 2% of America’s population, but their median yearly household income of astir $153,000 (about Rs 1.3 crore) is much than treble that of the state arsenic a whole.

Who are Indian Americans backing successful this election?

Roughly 47% respondents successful IAAS 2024 identified arsenic Democrats, down from 56% successful the 2020 variation of the survey. The percent of respondents identifying arsenic Independents roseate from 22% to 26%, and those identifying arsenic Republican roseate from 15% to 21%.

The survey recovered that 57% of respondents thin Democratic, 27% thin Republican, and 14% are “true” Independents. Using this metric, the stock of Democrats has declined to 57% from 66% successful 2020, and that of Republicans has risen to 27% from 18%.

This diminution successful enactment for the Democratic Party among Indian Americans whitethorn construe into voting behaviour arsenic well.

According to the 2024 IAAS, 60% of Indian American citizens planned to ballot for Harris, and 31% for Donald Trump. In 2020, 68% of Indian Americans had said they intended to ballot for Joe Biden, portion 22% had said that they would ballot for Trump.

What explains the voting preferences of Indian Americans?

Indian American enactment for Democrats has been traditionally based connected the cognition that Republicans are intolerant towards minorities, and excessively influenced by Christian evangelicalism (2020 IAAS). Among those who ballot Republican, the perceived weakness of Democrats successful handling the system and curbing amerciable immigration, and the cognition that the enactment is excessively left-wing and focused connected “identity politics” person been the superior drivers of support.

The 2020 IAAS did not find a notable quality successful voting volition among men and women; this year, however, a stark sex spread has emerged. About 67% of Indian American women respondents successful IAAS 2024 said they intended to ballot for Harris, and lone 22% said Trump; these numbers for antheral Indian Americans were 53% and 39% respectively.

One imaginable mentation for this inclination is simply a divergence successful issues prioritised by men and women successful the community, a inclination that is seen crossed the American population. So, women thin to enactment Harris for her presumption connected termination rights, portion beardown borders and a much wide taxation authorities — halfway Trump promises — resonate much with men.

Milan Vaishnav, a co-author of the IAAS on with Sumitra Badrinathan and Devesh Kapur, told Al Jazeera that “there is besides a increasing scepticism among immoderate Indian American men voting for a pistillate president” which is creating a “new cleavage” successful the community.

Lastly, it seems that Harris’s Indian practice has had constricted interaction connected Indian American voters. Many Indian Americans bash not place with the Vice President who has preferred to play up her Black practice (from her father’s side) much than her Indian one. At slightest 12% respondents successful the 2024 IAAS said that their main crushed for opposing Harris was that she “identifies much with her Black roots”.

Rohit Chopra of the Center for South Asia astatine Stanford University told Al Jazeera: “There is really much enthusiasm for idiosyncratic similar Tulsi Gabbard oregon Usha Vance than for Harris… In the American mainstream, Harris is perceived arsenic African American.”