A new survey showed a 19 percent drop in the number of Indian Americans supporting US President and Democrat Joe Biden this year, as compared to the last election of 2020. The Asian American Voter Survey (AAVS), released on Wednesday, revealed that 46 percent of Indian Americans would like to vote for Biden in the November 2024 presidential elections, compared to 65 percent in 2020.
However, former President and Republican leader Donald Trump gained just 2 percent – from 28 percent in 2020 to 30 percent in 2024 – despite the record 19-percent drop in Biden’s support from Indian Americans.
The survey further revealed that Asian Americans continue to support Biden more than Trump. However, an analysis of the results showed that while the support for Biden dropped by 8 percent as compared to 2020, that for Trump increased by one point.
As per the survey, 46 percent said they’ll likely vote for Biden (down from 54 percent in 2020), 31 percent said they’ll likely vote for Trump (compared to 30 percent in 2020), and 5 percent said they’ll likely vote for someone else (up from 1 percent in 2020). The remainder are undecided or refuse to answer how they will vote.
The survey further revealed that Asian American voters prefer Democratic candidates over Republicans for US House and Senate.
As many as 2,479 Asian American voters were surveyed. They were selected from a classified list of Asian American voters for the six largest ethnic groups – Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese. The survey was conducted before the June 27 presidential debate between Joe Biden and his Republican challenger Donald Trump.
Issues Asian American voters are concerned about
Among the most important issues for Asian American voters included jobs and the economy (86% say “extremely” or “very” important), inflation (85%), healthcare (85%), crime (80%), education (80%), Social Security and Medicare (79%), cost of housing (78%), national security (77%), gun control (73%), and immigration (71%).
How important are Asian American voters in US?
The survey said that in the past two decades, Asian Americans have become one of the fastest-growing racial or ethnic groups in the US. It added that that in 2020, Asian Americans saw a significant double-digit increase in presidential turnout and even had the “highest midterm turnout gain in 2018”.
Moreover, “In battleground states such as Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, the number of Asian Americans who cast their ballot in 2020 exceeded the presidential margin of victory,” the report said.
This shows that the sharp decline in Indian American voters’ support for Biden might turn out to be crucial as the community has a sizable presence in many battleground states.