South Asian voters seem to be energized by Harris
Sayu Bhojwani was glad that former Vice President Joe Biden chose a woman of color to be his running mate. But it wasn’t until Sen. Kamala Harris’ formal acceptance speech that Bhojwani realized the full impact of Harris’ presence on the presidential ticket.
“This idea that only white men can serve as president and represent even the most diverse districts, but Black women and minority women can only represent Black and minority women, is problematic,” said Bhojwani, founder and president of New American Leaders, New York City’s first commissioner of immigrant affairs and founder of South Asian Youth Action. “The nomination of Kamala is a signal, an opening to the possibility that any of us who consider ourselves American can run for the highest office of the land.”
Prominent Black activists and donors predicted that Harris, the first Black woman and first South Asian on a major party ticket, will help generate new excitement among Black voters for Biden. That enthusiasm is also felt in the South Asian community, Bhojwani said.
“There’s more of a likelihood to organize voters in the Indian American community and mobilize unreliable voters who might not have turned out at the polls,” Bhojwani said. “There’s more excitement about the ticket because Kamala is there. I hear this across the board.”
Asian Americans are the fastestgrowing racial ethnic group of the U.S. electorate, according to the Pew Research Center, and up to 1 million Indian Americans – the second-largest immigrant group after Mexicans – are expected
Despite the friendly relationship between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump, most Indian Americans continue to vote blue alongside other immigrant groups.
to cast a ballot in November,
Bhojwani said.
About three-fourths of Asian American women said they had negative feelings about the way the country was going and voted for a Democratic candidate in 2018, according to a study by SKDKnickerbocker, a political consulting firm that typically works for Democratic politicians.
Despite the friendly relationship between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump, most Indian Americans continue to vote blue alongside other immigrant groups. More than half of Indian Americans said they had a favorable opinion of Harris, according to the Asian American Voters Survey.
Only 16% said they had an unfavorable opinion, 10% had no opinion and 20% had never heard of her.
Still, some progressives are more cautious with their support given the senator’s “tough on crime” record as a district attorney and attorney general in California.
But most Indian Americans are “thrilled,” especially at a time when Asian Americans have felt under attack because of the coronavirus pandemic, Bhojwani said.
This story was published in partnership with The 19th, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy.