Surge of South Asian Support for Kamala Harris Following Biden’s Exit from Presidential Race

In the days leading up to President Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race, a poll by Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) revealed a 19 percent decrease in support for Biden among South Asian Americans. However, with Kamala Harris, an Indian American, now leading the Democratic presidential ticket, South Asian organizers have experienced a significant surge in enthusiasm.

“Our phones have not stopped ringing. We have received hundreds of messages, and it’s just overwhelming,” stated Neha Dewan, the founder of South Asians for Biden in 2020. According to Dewan, this level of interest is unprecedented.

Anurima Bhargava, the founder and director of Anthem of Us and one of the organizers of a “South Asian Women for Harris” Zoom call, noted that it had been a challenging year to motivate people to vote for Biden. However, Harris’s candidacy has dramatically altered the situation.

“I think for, for young and old, it’s been a tough year to try and get people really energized. And I think what we’ve seen in the last two weeks is a real space for hope on multiple fronts,” Bhargava commented.

In just two weeks, South Asian organizers have arranged numerous events nationwide, including phone banking, door-knocking, and letter-writing campaigns supporting Harris. The launch of Harris’s candidacy saw South Asian men and women hosting Zoom calls attended by tens of thousands.

“We’ve already launched a Pennsylvania phone bank that’s coming up this weekend that has nearly 300 phone bank and volunteer sign-ups,” said Chintan Patel, the executive director of Indian American Impact. “The energy has been phenomenal.”

South Asians have also appreciated seeing a multiethnic coalition form around Harris. Dibya Sarkar, a leader of They See Blue, a South Asian group focused on mobilizing voters in battleground states, shared, “I actually didn’t think that people would react to Kamala the way they have. I mean, especially men, white men… So that’s actually really, really, really surprised me in a good way, and I’m really glad.”

Amid this growing support, former President Trump has intensified his racial attacks on Harris, including claims about her allegedly hiding her Black identity. Harini Krishnan, one of the co-directors of South Asians for Harris, addressed these attacks: “We see you, Donald, for the racist xenophobe that you are, trying to pit one community against another with your divisive garbage. Kamala Harris is a Black woman, a South Asian American woman and has spoken repeatedly with pride about both of her heritage and roots and represents all our communities in everything she is.”

South Asian organizers have dismissed Trump’s remarks, viewing them as an attempt to divide communities of color that will ultimately fail. “Trump has been part of a concerted effort to either erase race or use race to divide America. Yesterday, he tried and failed once again,” Bhargava added. “Vice President Kamala Harris, and all of us in America, are so much more than the limits he imagines.”

The significance of South Asian voters in the upcoming election is considerable. According to the 2020 census, the U.S. has about 6.5 million South Asians. AAPI Victory Fund co-founder Shekar Narasimhan estimates there are around 750,000 Indian American voters in key swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Wisconsin. In several of these states, the number of eligible South Asian voters exceeds the margin of victory from the last election. For instance, in Pennsylvania, there are 85,000 eligible South Asian voters, while Biden won the state by 80,555 votes in 2020.

Narasimhan noted that nearly 40 percent of these voters have never cast a ballot. Reflecting on the APIAVote poll showing declining support for Biden, Narasimhan explained, “What you saw in that poll was a lot of apathy… The switchover at the top of the ticket, obviously, it’s a plus.” He added, “I think the question is, how do we ensure that for all that group that was apathetic or unenthusiastic or had sort of not paid attention that we do bring attention to this race and to make sure that people know that somebody who looks, who thinks like us, who … is a first-generation immigrant, is on the ticket… That’s the effort that’s going on, and it’s very organic, and it’s completely spectacular what’s happening.”

Many of the organizing groups supporting Harris did not exist before Trump’s presidency. However, in less than a decade, they have mobilized for this moment. Patel emphasized that South Asian organizers were prepared to take swift action. Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) recalled, “When I first ran in 2010 none of these groups existed… There was very loose infrastructure within the South Asian or Indian American community. So a lot of it was just going out and trying to find a handful of folks that were involved in politics, more involved in the donor community and building some of that.”

To sustain Harris’s momentum, organizers and political strategists believe it’s crucial to emphasize how her identity allows her to relate to the struggles of everyday Americans. Narasimhan stated, “We have to reintroduce her as the person that she is, this multidimensional American with this origin story, and how she understands your problems in your life situation… How are we going to make life better for Americans, including you? But the origin story is what I think will resonate.”

Pawan Dhingra, a South Asian studies professor at Amherst University, suggested that Harris “needs to do more to bring this support to the ballot box.” He explained, “She can talk about the issues that people care about, not as in a general policy way, but also lean into them in terms of how as, you know, an immigrant, a child, a child of immigrants, as an Indian American, how those issues matter to her.”

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) added that Harris should continue to address “economic issues” faced by South Asian entrepreneurs, as well as challenges in legal immigration.

South Asians, particularly young people of color, have been at the forefront of organizing efforts related to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Sree Sreenivasan, the former president of the South Asian Journalists Association and organizer of the “South Asian Men for Harris” Zoom call, highlighted this. Palak Sheth, an organizer of the “South Asian Women for Harris” call, pointed out, “An area of particular importance for South Asians is the war in Gaza, and what’s happening with the genocide in Gaza.”

Nikil Saval, the first South Asian elected to serve as a state senator in Pennsylvania, noted that there was “diminished support” among South Asians concerned about Biden’s policies in Gaza. Sheth added, “I think one of the strongest sentiments we heard from the folks joining and participating via the chat is that they want to see what she’s going to do about this more than none of us really feel comfortable and somewhat helpless about the genocide.”

Although Harris has not explicitly deviated from Biden’s strong support for Israel, she has expressed concerns about the scale of civilian deaths in Gaza. After a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, she stated, “What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating… We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent.”

Dewan observed that the youth team within South Asians for Biden initially faced difficulties engaging young voters due to apathy related to the Gaza conflict and Biden being the incumbent. However, since Harris became the nominee, there has been a noticeable shift. “The reaction that we have gotten from the youth team is unbelievable,” Dewan said. Bejay Chakrabarty, a youth organizer with South Asians for Harris, remarked, “It feels like she is much more willing to listen to us.”