Large Indian-American turnout at Democratic convention in support of Kamala Harris

At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week, to celebrate US Vice President Kamala Harris as the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, members of the Indian American community, including elected representatives of government, delegates who represented their states or districts and guests, were very visible and engaged.
“There are over 700,000 eligible Indian Americans in the seven battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.President Joe Biden won six of these seven states by a total of 325,000 votes in 2020. So, clearly Indian American voters matter,” Shekar Narasimhan, a 2024 DNC Virginia delegate and founder and chairman, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Victory Fund, told the Times of India. He added that the Indian American community was well represented at the convention on the main stage every day, with over 30 delegates and 40 elected officials. “And the number of new convention attendees was remarkable especially second generation and younger,” Narasimhan said.
Ajay Bhutoria, an Indian American community leader who is deeply engaged in the political and public advocacy space, feels that the involvement of the Indian diaspora in Kamala Harris’s campaign, as evident at the DNC, has been incredibly inspiring and impactful. “At the DNC, I witnessed a strong sense of pride and commitment among Indian Americans, who see Vice President Harris not just as a first Indian American presidential candidate but as a symbol of the American dream. From fundraising to organising voter outreach efforts, members of our community are playing critical roles in driving her campaign forward,” he told TOI. For him, the most memorable moment at the convention was congratulating Vice President Harris on her nomination right after her acceptance speech.
The large presence of Indian Americans at the DNC is testament to the growing political engagement within the community, Bhutoria feels. “This presence reflects the widespread support for Harris's campaign among Indian Americans, who see her as a leader who understands the challenges and aspirations of immigrant communities. The enthusiasm at the convention was palpable, and it reinforced the belief that our community will be a decisive force in the upcoming election,” he said. Elected Indian American officials who were seen at the DNC included Congressional representatives Shri Thanedar and Raja Krishnamoorthy; Maryland’s Lt Governor Aruna Miller; Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija, North Carolina State Senator Jay Chaudhuri; Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, Illinois State Senator Ram Villivalam and many others.
A large number of Indian American community members, especially second and third generation, were actively involved the Democratic convention this year and many of them are seen as playing an important role in Harris’s presidential campaign. Some of visible community members at DNC were Praveen Meyyan, an Asian American community leader who is chair of the Democratic Asians Americans of Virginia (AAPI Caucus of the Democratic Party of Virginia); Shyamali Roy Hauth, an US Air Force veteran who serves on the 11th Congressional district Democratic committee; Deepa Sharma, a lawyer and DNC delegate from California who has served on the executive board of the California Democratic Party’s Asian/ Pacific Islander caucus; Shivanthi Sathanandan, second vice chair, Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and the battleground states director of South
Asians for Harris and Harini Krishnan, co-national director of South Asians for Harris and delegate from California at DNC.
“The number of DNC delegates and volunteers from the Indian American community has grown significantly, which reflects our community’s increasing political participation. This year, there was a concerted effort to engage and mobilise Indian American voters, and that was evident in the number of community members actively involved in the convention. Their presence and contributions are crucial as we work to ensure that our voices are heard and that we play a key role in shaping the future of our nation,” Bhutoria said.
Chintan Patel, executive director of Indian American Impact Fund, an organisation dedicated to promoting and elevating the voices of Indian and South Asian Americans in the political and civic life of the United States, who attended DNC, said that his organisation looks forward to mobilising South Asian Americans in unprecedented numbers for Harris’s campaign. “We are confident that our community will help deliver the White House to Kamala Harris this November,” he said in a statement after the DNC.