Sixty-six per cent of Indian Americans currently favour Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 presidential election as compared to only 28 per cent who prefer President Donald Trump, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
Indiaspora, a nonprofit member organisation of global Indian diaspora leaders, and Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Data on Tuesday released their joint report on Indian American voters’ attitudes in the upcoming 2020 US presidential election.
“66 per cent of Indian Americans currently favour Vice President Biden, 28 per cent favour President Donald Trump, and 6 percent were undecided. In the 2016 presidential election, 77percent voted for Secretary Hillary Clinton, and 16 per cent voted for President Trump. If the remaining undecided voters broke in the same pattern as those who have madeup their mind, Joe Biden would secure 70 per cent of the vote, when compared to 30 per cent for Trump,” the report read.
Election experts project that Democrats should be worried about Indian American voters attrition considering the overall percentage number may have dropped down for the Democrats from the 84 per cent that supported Obama in 2012 and the 77 per cent who supported Hillary Clinton 2016 as compared to the 66 per cent supporting former Vice President Joe Biden. Meanwhile, President Trump’s vote share has gone up from 16 percent in 2016 to 28 per cent.
“I think Democrats absolutely should be concerned about making sure that they conduct sufficient outreach to Indian Americans that they conduct sufficient outreach to the different groups that comprise bases and Indian Americans because every vote is going to count especially in those battleground states,” said Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat congressman.
An Indian American himself and representative from state of Illinois, Raja Krishnamoorthi further said that the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida and North Carolina could be a part of tipping factor this election. “And because of that I think the Joe Biden campaign has to be especially attentive,” Raja Krishnamoorthi further asserted. The survey report also documents the strengthening political power of the Indian American electorate in the U.S. due to factors such as their rapidly growing population and increased political participation. “With increased attention being paid to the Indian American vote given our growing numbers, increasing political contributions and overall political engagement, we wanted to shine a spotlight on the issues that really matter to Indian American voters,” said MR Rangaswami, founder of Indiaspora.