International Desk: A new survey has said that 61 percent of people of Indian origin will vote for Kamala Harris and 31 percent for Donald Trump in the upcoming elections in the United States. The Indian-American Attitudes Survey (IAAS), conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in partnership with YouGov, released the data.
But there are some data in the survey that are also worrying for Democrats.
Support from the Indian-origin community for the Democratic presidential candidate has declined compared to last time in 2020. At that time 68% supported Joe Biden. And support for Trump has increased from 22% four years ago to 31% now. The number of Indian-Americans who identify as Democrats fell from 56 percent to 47 percent, and the number of Indian-Americans who lean Democrat fell from 66 percent to 57 percent.
Consistent with the larger shift among racial groups (a big shift if it's reflected in the results), 48% of Indian-American men under 40 side with Trump. And 44 percent are in favor of Kamala Harris. This surge in support among young Indian males for a Republican candidate is the first in electoral history.
The poll also found that female voters of all ages support Kamala Harris by a significant margin compared to their support for Trump. However, men are divided by age, with older voters supporting Kamala Harris. Indian voters are also more left-leaning than they were four years ago.
The study was conducted by political scientist Devesh Kapoor of Hopkins University, Milan Vaishnav of the Carnegie Endowment and Sumitra Badrinathan of American University.
A nationally representative sample of 714 Indian-Americans answered survey questions from mid-September to mid-October. They conducted a similar survey in 2020, the first of its kind, to range political and social attitudes among Indian-Americans.
Nationally, there are now 5.2 million people of Indian origin in the United States, of which 2.6 million are US citizens, according to the survey. Indian-Americans are now the second largest immigrant group in the United States, second only to Mexican-Americans. The survey revealed that their population has increased by 50 percent since 2010.
Indian Americans have emerged as an important voting bloc. Of these, 96 percent are expected to be potential voters.
According to the survey, 61 percent of Indian-Americans support Kamala Harris, second only to African-Americans, of whom 77 percent favor Kamala Harris. The ratio of Indian support is higher than poll estimates, with 58 percent Hispanic support and 41 percent white support for Harris.
The proportion of those who self-identified as left-wing increased from 47 percent to 55 percent. And among those who self-identify as conservative, it dropped from 23% to 17%.
By gender, there is a clear gap, with a majority of both men and women siding with Democrats. Among women, 67 percent supported Kamala Harris and 22 percent supported Trump. Among men, 53 percent supported Kamala Harris and 39 percent supported Trump. In terms of age, Harris' support is highest among the elderly, with 70 percent of those over 50 supporting him.
Another prism, mixing gender and age, shows that among those over 40, 70% of women and 60% of men favor Harris. 60 percent of women under 40 say they favor Harris. Men under 40 are the only age group where Trump's support is higher, as noted earlier, with 48% supporting Trump compared to 44% for Harris.
In terms of religious divide, majority of all parties support Kamala Harris, but Trump's support is higher among Hindus than among non-Hindus. Among the poll participants, 58 percent of Hindus voted for Kamala Harris and 35 percent for Trump. Among non-Hindus of Indian origin, 62 percent for Kamala Harris and 27 percent for Trump.
Indian-Americans, like the rest of the American electorate, have economic concerns at the top of their political choices, the survey found. Inflation and inflation were the top issues, according to 17 percent of respondents, and 13 percent cited jobs and the economy as their top issues.
Abortion was important to 13 percent of voters and immigration was the top issue to 10 percent of voters. Issues like health care, climate, civil liberties, crime, taxes and spending were next on the list. Only 4 percent of respondents felt that India-US relations were a top issue. According to the survey, Republicans are prioritizing the economy and Democrats are prioritizing abortion.
