Democratic Stronghold At Risk: Indian-Americans' Allegiance Shifts Towards Republicans

With over 5.2 million people of Indian origin residing in the US, Indian-Americans are now the second-largest immigrant group and an important political actor because of their rapid demographic growth.

A recent survey, "2024 Indian-American Attitudes," conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and YouGov, reveals a decline in Indian-Americans' attachment to the Democratic Party.

According to the survey, 61% of registered voters plan to vote for Kamala Harris, while 32% intend to vote for Trump.

Abortion and reproductive rights are a highly salient issue, ranking second in policy concerns after inflation and prices and has tied with the economy and jobs and the reason why most Indian Americans lean towards Democrats is because of the Republican party's intolerance of minorities, its perspective about abortion and ties to Christian evangelicalism.

While they remain solidly behind Democrats, there's an increase in support for Republican candidates and former President Donald Trump. “This modest drift toward Trump appears to be driven by Indian-American men, particularly young men born in the United States.” the report says.

Kamala Harris' presence on the ballot, acknowledging her Indian heritage, has increased attention on Indian-American political views. “Harris's identity in this election is worth underscoring because findings from academic research have demonstrated that, among Asian-Americans, Indian-Americans are especially inclined to mobilise behind candidates who share their ethnicity,” the survey states.

Indian-Americans are what are called “high propensity” voters and both parties have wooed the group because of their pivotal nature.

In a campaign, Harris draws attention to the fact that her mother is an immigrant from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and as “a brilliant, 5-foot tall, brown woman with an accent.” On the other hand we also see how the Republican campaign has highlighted their Indian American community and brought Usha Vance to the limelight - the wife of Trump's vice presidential candidate JD Vance.

Still and all, the Democratic Party has seen a 9% decline in support among respondents, from 56% in 2020 to 47% currently. “There has been a modest shift in the community's preferences, with a greater share of respondents willing to vote for Trump since the last election,” the survey says.