Desi Americans & Hindu Roots In the 2024 Elections (2024)

Will Party affiliation trump ethnicity & race in the 2024 elections?

The primaries in the spring of 2024 promise to be interesting for Indian Americans. There will potentially be three desis running in the elections; aside from Democrat VP Kamala Harris, two from the Republican party – Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy!

Ramaswamy is considered to be right-wing, while Haley is seen as a more moderate alternative. While both candidates prefer to focus on their “American” identity first, Ramaswamy has been more forthcoming about Indian Hindu roots.

Does this mean that Indian Americans are moving right to the Republican Party?

Haley & Ramaswamy – favorable to desis?

No, says Dr. Karthick Ramakrishnan, professor of public policy at the University of California, Riverside, and the founder of AAPI Data.

Sharing the most recent data from their survey at the EMS Briefing on December 8, The Rise of Ethnic Voters, Dr. Ramakrishnan argues “more API adults have unfavorable views of Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, than favorable views.”

“I’ve seen over the last 15 years of doing this work that Indian Americans and Japanese Americans tend to be among those that are the most strongly Democratic,” he continues.

While there is a difference between party registration and party identification, “people’s opinions on issues are more shaped by their party identification than the other way around,” continues Dr. Ramakrishnan, especially if they voted over several elections for one party versus another.

“No matter your opinions on taxes or environmental protection, your Republican, Democratic or Independent identity will likely shape them over time.”

Dr. Ramakrishnan contends that the data shows Indian Americans as still among the strongest Democratic Party supporters. “There are Indian American Republicans, and some of them are doing quite well when it comes to leadership positions in the party, but they are far from the mainstream and far from the middle when it comes to Indian American voter opinion.”

What issues are important to South Asians?

As Indian Americans are becoming more politically influential, this has translated into a higher voter turnout as well because of our high level of English proficiency and historical trust in democratic principles contendsDr. Ramakrishnan.

But when it comes to Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, “the reality is both these candidates espouse extreme views on issues like reproductive rights and gun safety which do not align with the majority of South Asians in this country, especially second generation South Asians,” says Harini Krishan, Chair, Community Organizing Campaigns and Training for South Asians for America.

“Vivek, in particular, is disliked by more and more South Asians, even independents, because of the increasing number of conspiracy theories he has been pushing in debates, and whatever curiosity South Asians had about him when he entered the race has dissipated due to his extreme views,” continues Krishnan.

“In 2023, we saw a blue wave in many parts of the country, including and especially in Virginia, where Democrats not only flipped the State House blue, but also expanded the majority in the State Senate,” explains Krishnan, where SAFA worked closely with other AAPI groups on the ground to turn out the South Asian vote, making calls, sending texts, knocking on doors and writing postcards to voters in Virginia.

As a result, SAFA helped elect two new South Asians to the Virginia Legislature, Kannan Srinivasan and Saddam Azlan Salim, both of whom were formerly SAFA Virginia Chapter State Directors.

“Contrary to what the polls and pundits predicted, we saw a lot of support for Democrats on the ground, especially among South Asians, for whom issues like reproductive freedom, gun safety, and the economy were front and center in their minds.”

The rise of the young Latino vote

In the next presidential election, 22% of Latinos eligible to vote in 2024will be new voters. 38% of the Latino electorate is new to the political sphere since 2016. Compared to the median age of eligible U.S. voters, which is 50, the median age of eligible Latino voters is only 39.

“Young Latinos are making up a larger section of the youth voters as more elections come to pass,” says Dr. Claudia Sandoval of Loyola Marymount University. The reality is that US-born and raised Latinos are the ones who are truly changing America’s demographic and political landscape.

While young Latino men are also most sympathetic to Trump and other Republican candidates, these numbers say Dr. Sandoval, do not necessarily point to a moving Latino vote to the Republican Party because the majority of Latino voters still have attitudes and policy preferences that lean to the left.

“While only 4% of young Latino voters believe that the Democratic Party is hostile to the Latino community,37% of those Latino voters do believe that Biden and the Democratic Party do not necessarily care about the Latino community. On the other side, while 22% believe that the Republican Party is hostile to the Latino community, a third of young Latino voters believe that the Republican Party cares a great deal about Latinos.”

These numbers show us the complicated nature of Latino political preferences, attitudes, and potential political identification.

Like all other Americans, Latinos care about the economy, jobs, health care, crime, and housing, says Dr. Sandoval. “We shouldn’t treat Latinos as single-issue voters relegated only to conversations on immigration.”

The Latino vote is going to be significant for decades to come, contends Dr. Sandoval. The important question is will they yield to this power by going out to vote?

Can the Dems count on the black voters?

In 2020, the black non-Hispanic vote share for Biden and Trump was 92 and 8% respectively.

But are they tired of showing up again and again, and perhaps not necessarily seeing the policy benefits that they want to see, says Dr. Jamil Scott, Assistant Professor of Government at Georgetown University.

The Biden administration can’t say that they’ve kept their promise on issues like student loan forgiveness and voter rights continues Dr. Scott, but with the lowest unemployment record among Black Americans in a long time, new opportunities for small businesses and twenty-five black judges being appointed including at the Supreme Court, are some successes for the community.

“In 2024, I think we’re facing less of a question of whether Black voters will change their partisanship and more of a question of how many Black voters will show up on Election Day at all,” says Dr. Scott.

Gen Z is here to have their voice heard

In 2024, 45% of the 40 million members of Gen Z eligible to vote will be people of color, including 8.8 million Latinos, 5.7 million Black youth, 1.7 million Asian Americans, and 1.8 million multiracial youth.

“We are extremely racially and ethnically diverse, more so than any previous generation, and we’re also a generation characterized by our unity in our action,” says Jessica Siles, Deputy Press Secretary, Voters of Tomorrow – especially when it comes to gun violence prevention measures and climate action.

Gen Z are also workers and taxpayers concerned about their ability to find a good job or pay for a house.

This translates into young people voting Democrat by 28 point margin, explains Siles.

Gen Z also voted at a higher rate than millennials, Gen X, and Boomers did in their generations’ first midterm election, she continues. Getting young Gen Z voters to the polls because of transportation issues and Voter IDs are barriers, explains Siles, and it becomes even more of an issue when it comes to minority voters.

What is clear is that the future of all these voting blocs depends on which party’s leaders can best reflect their values and motivate them to get to the polls in 2024.

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