On the evening of the election, University of Wisconsin-Madison sophomore Sandy Nayar was glued to the television at a party with a group of left-leaning, predominantly Indian friends.
Partygoers were “full of hope” for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Nayar told The Daily Cardinal, drawing up generously blue election prediction maps and preparing to take late-night shots for every state they got wrong.
Nobody ended up taking any shots, as the party was over by 7 p.m.
Indian Americans have historically sided with Democrats in local, state and national elections, despite the recent surge of prominent Indian American Republicans and nominees for President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet. A 2024 survey of Indian Americans found 61% of respondents planned to vote for Harris just prior to the election, an 8% decrease from those who voted for President Joe Biden in 2020.
But Trump’s reelection is a source of great contention among America’s second largest immigrant group with more Indian Americans than ever self-identifying on the ideological left while also leaving the Democratic Party in favor of independent affiliation or voting Republican.
Indian Americans in Wisconsin spoke with the Cardinal about Democrats’ failures to invigorate voters, issues facing their community and how a second Trump presidency could shape America.
Indian Americans expect changes in the Trump era but foresee rising political power
Indian Americans like Kamala Harris, Nikki Haley, Jay Bhattacharya, Kash Patel and Vivek Ramaswamy have risen to become key players in national politics as part of the “largest and most politically active group among Asian Americans.” Sanchayita Kar and UW-Madison students Heba Haq, Arnav Mahajan and Nayar said they think the community will have a large role in both shaping and being shaped by the upcoming administration.
“We’re the dark horses who nobody realizes until they see us at the top,” Mahajan said. “People are now starting to realize what we’re capable of.”
Haq said she expects “more Viveks in the future” as Indian Americans prioritize class-based voting over social policy. And Sachin Chheda, former chair of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party, said he has witnessed the community’s economic interests diversify as the number of working-class Indian immigrants has increased.
Indian Americans lean liberal, find Trump controversial
Kar, a scientist living in Wisconsin since 1998, called Trump a “felon and sexual abuser” elected due to Americans’ distrust of women and Democrats being out-of-touch with the working class. She’s noticed his increasing popularity with young white Americans, particularly men.
“I always thought, ‘well, educated white young people, why would they go for Trump?’” Kar said. “But there must be some kind of insecurity they have.”
During a new Trump era, Kar fears funding cuts to scientific research in the Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration after witnessing a “steady decline” in scientific journals from India throughout the first Trump presidency, she said.
Chheda thinks Trump does not align with Indian American values on issues such as racism, economics, immigration and women’s rights. Indian Americans and other minorities who voted for Trump are “pulling the ladder up behind them,” he said.
“It’s the willingness of those who are already here to ‘other’ the people who come later, which is a constant in the American story,” Chheda said.
But Mahajan voted for Trump despite “disturbing” felony convictions because he thinks his administration will follow through on his promise to grant green cards for foreigners who graduate from U.S. colleges after watching family friends go through years of “stressful” visa and green card renewals despite living long-term in the United States.
“I started tuning it out at the end,” Mahajan said. “He has a lot of flaws, but he’s what the U.S. needs to ensure citizens and hard-working immigrants have economic prosperity.”
Indian Americans criticize Democrats on foreign policy
Widespread disillusionment toward Democrats’ stance on Israel’s war on Gaza may be an important factor in Indian Americans’ rapidly changing political identification since 2020. The percentage of Independents in the community has grown by 11%, and Republican Party affiliation has remained a consistent 21%.
Mahajan chose to vote for Trump after seeing President Joe Biden’s handling of Israel’s war on Gaza, he said, primarily because the Democratic administration continued funding Israel and could not end violence in the region.
“The Democrats should have resolved the war instead of just selling Israel a bunch of weapons and making money off of it,” Mahajan said. “Trump already reached out to [Benjamin Netanyahu] about bringing it to an end and that kind of immediate action is what moved me toward him. Maybe world peace is around the corner.”
Kar, Nayar and UW-Madison junior Heba Haq also considered Israel’s war on Gaza to be a significant flaw in Democratic leadership, despite all voting for Harris. Eight of Haq’s extended family members “protest-voted” for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, she said. Nayar said she voted for Harris as “harm reduction.”
“Democrats showed slightly less blood thirstiness for Israel’s constant genocide than Republicans,” Nayar said. “Kamala is still part of the bipartisan establishment, but I thought she would do less harm in office than Trump will.”
The invisible hand: Discrimination within and without
Despite growing dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party, Indian Americans remain unswayed by the Republican platform due to its association with white Christian nationalism. Haq told the Cardinal a close relative claimed he would vote Republican if Republicans “didn’t hate Muslims.”
“They can get behind the religious elements of the Republican Party and their economic bullshittery, but the Muslim-banning turns some people off,” Haq said. “It doesn’t preclude them from voting for Trump, but it does mean they’re less likely to.”
Chheda views racism toward South Asians as more explicit and accepted by Republican leadership than Democrats, though he “[doesn’t] think it’s zero on the left.” The experienced former political consultant and campaign director told the Cardinal he had dreams to run for and win political office when he was younger, but never did.
“I'm not saying I forgive it, but I'm not going to spend every second of my day complaining about it,” Chheda said. “I've accepted there’s things I haven’t been able to do that I would have if I were the same person with the same story and a white dude with an American name.”
Editor's Note: this article was updated at 3:30 p.m. CST on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2024, to clarify Kar's occupation.
Sreejita Patra is a senior staff writer and the former summer ad sales manager for The Daily Cardinal. She has written for breaking news, campus news and arts and has done extensive reporting on the 2024 presidential race. She also covered the Oregon Village Board for the Oregon Observer.
