Score several ‘firsts’, make the difference in key battleground states.
More than 60 Indian Americans are holding state or federal office across the US after the 2020 election with several young candidates scoring “firsts” besides the historic election of Kamala Harris as Vice President.
“This year’s election represented a giant leap forward for Indian Americans’ representation in American politics,” said Neil Makhija
Executive Director of IMPACT, a community organization that raised $10 million to support Indian American candidates.
As Harris, the first woman, the first African American and the first Indian American ever elected Vice President said in November, “she may be the first to reach this milestone—but she won’t be the last,” he noted.
IMPACT recognized several history making down ballot “firsts” made by extraordinary young Indian American candidates.
RELATED: Indian American winners of 2020 mark many firsts (November 20, 2020)
Jenifer Rajkumar will represent Queens in the New York State Assembly, becoming the first South Asian woman elected to New York state office.
Kesha Ram will represent Burlington in the Vermont State Senate, becoming the first woman of color elected to that legislature.
Nikil Saval will represent Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, becoming the first Indian American elected to that legislature.
Jeremy Cooney will represent Rochester in the New York State Senate, becoming the first Indian American elected to the State Senate from Upstate New York.
IMPACT also outlined how it mobilized Indian American voters in key national battlegrounds like Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.
In Georgia, where Indian Americans make up the large plurality of Asian American voters, turnout nearly doubled from 2016, the largest increase among any demographic group.
“And these voters made a difference,” IMPACT said noting “there were 30,571 first-time Asian American voters—twice the total margin of victory for the Biden-Harris ticket.”
In Pennsylvania, Asian American voters turned out in record numbers. “More than 56,000 Asian American voters in the Keystone State voted early by mail, making our community a key pillar to the coalition that flipped the state,” it said.
In Arizona, the number of Asian American voters who cast an early ballot surpassed the total vote in 2016 by nearly 50 percent.
In AZ-06, a key swing district, nearly twice as many AAPI voters cast an early ballot compared to 2016, and AAPI turnout in 2020 surpassed total turnout from four years ago .
IMPACT cited a long-time political strategist as saying that the increased turnout in the Asian American community is something he has “never seen in 26 years of polling.”