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SCREEN CAPTURE Kamala Harris' candidacy for Vice President has energized Indian American voters. |
A leading Indian American advocacy and political action committee has raised a $10 million to assist Indian American candidates elected this November.
In just three months, the Indian American PAC, IMPACT, raised the funds to support turnout efforts in the Asian American and Indian American community throughout the United States, including the Democratic ticket that includes Vice President candidate Kamala Harris along with Joe Biden for President.
Harris' historic candidacy as the first Asian American on a national ticket has spurred greater-than-usual excitement in the Indian American community.
Assistance will be doled out with IMPACT's candidates' slate including six candidates for the US House and 16 candidates running for federal and state offices.
“IMPACT’s fundraising strength reflects trends we’re seeing across the country,” IMPACT Executive Director Neil Makhija, said Monday (Oct. 20) announcing the organization’s unprecedented fundraising effort.
“There’s a level of enthusiasm and excitement about this year’s election among Indian American voters that is palpable, and unrivaled in previous cycles,” he told The American Bazaar.
“With an Indian American on the presidential ticket for the first time in history, and a record number of Indian American candidates running for office, Indian American voters are poised to exert a considerable amount of influence in this year’s election, and IMPACT will help mobilize and harness this emerging power.”
IMPACT said it will invest in the presidential, state-wide, and congressional races in battleground states across the country. Investments include committee contributions, paid advertising, targeted turnout operations, and infrastructure building.
This groundbreaking investment comes at a time when Indian Americans — the second largest immigrant group in the U.S. after Hispanics — are beginning to flex their political muscle on the national political stage, said an IMPACT statement.
In addition to an Indian American being a historic Democratic nominee for Vice President, the number of Indian Americans in Congress has grown five-fold in just the past eight years and the campaign arm charged with electing Democrats to Congress released its first-ever Hindi-language political ad earlier this year, it noted.
All of these developments have come less than 75 years since South Asians began emigrating to the US, and 55 years after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which ended discriminatory quotas and opened the doors to Asian immigrants, IMPACT said.
“IMPACT’s fundraising strength reflects trends we’re seeing across the country,” IMPACT Executive Director Neil Makhija, said Monday (Oct. 20) announcing the organization’s unprecedented fundraising effort.
“There’s a level of enthusiasm and excitement about this year’s election among Indian American voters that is palpable, and unrivaled in previous cycles,” he told The American Bazaar.
“With an Indian American on the presidential ticket for the first time in history, and a record number of Indian American candidates running for office, Indian American voters are poised to exert a considerable amount of influence in this year’s election, and IMPACT will help mobilize and harness this emerging power.”
IMPACT said it will invest in the presidential, state-wide, and congressional races in battleground states across the country. Investments include committee contributions, paid advertising, targeted turnout operations, and infrastructure building.
This groundbreaking investment comes at a time when Indian Americans — the second largest immigrant group in the U.S. after Hispanics — are beginning to flex their political muscle on the national political stage, said an IMPACT statement.
In addition to an Indian American being a historic Democratic nominee for Vice President, the number of Indian Americans in Congress has grown five-fold in just the past eight years and the campaign arm charged with electing Democrats to Congress released its first-ever Hindi-language political ad earlier this year, it noted.
All of these developments have come less than 75 years since South Asians began emigrating to the US, and 55 years after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which ended discriminatory quotas and opened the doors to Asian immigrants, IMPACT said.
Besides the Democratic ticket, IMPACT is also endorsing Sara Gideon, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Maine against longtime incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.
Additionally, IMPACT is backing four sitting members of U.S. Congress: Ami Bera, California; Ro Khanna, California; Pramila Jayapal, Washington; Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois — the PAC is backing two candidates seeking to unseat House incumbents: Sri Kulkarni, 22nd District in Texas, and Hiral Tipirneni, 6th District in Arizona.
Six State Senate candidates backed by IMPACT are: Jay Chaudhuri (North Carolina), Jeremy Cooney (New York), Kevin Thomas (New York), Rupande Mehta (New Jersey), Kesha Ram (Vermont), and Nikil Saval (Pennsylvania).
Five candidates for State Houses are: Nima Kulkarni (Kentucky) Padma Kuppa (Michigan), Jennifer Rajkumar (New York), Amish Shah (Arizona), and Vandana Slatter (Washington).
Impact is also backing Nina Ahmad (Pennsylvania Auditor General), Ronnie Chatterji (North Carolina Treasurer), Pavan Parikh (Ohio Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas) and Ravi Sandill (Texas District Judge).
Additionally, IMPACT is backing four sitting members of U.S. Congress: Ami Bera, California; Ro Khanna, California; Pramila Jayapal, Washington; Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois — the PAC is backing two candidates seeking to unseat House incumbents: Sri Kulkarni, 22nd District in Texas, and Hiral Tipirneni, 6th District in Arizona.
Six State Senate candidates backed by IMPACT are: Jay Chaudhuri (North Carolina), Jeremy Cooney (New York), Kevin Thomas (New York), Rupande Mehta (New Jersey), Kesha Ram (Vermont), and Nikil Saval (Pennsylvania).
Five candidates for State Houses are: Nima Kulkarni (Kentucky) Padma Kuppa (Michigan), Jennifer Rajkumar (New York), Amish Shah (Arizona), and Vandana Slatter (Washington).
Impact is also backing Nina Ahmad (Pennsylvania Auditor General), Ronnie Chatterji (North Carolina Treasurer), Pavan Parikh (Ohio Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas) and Ravi Sandill (Texas District Judge).
Although there is only 1.8 million Indian American voters, they are concentrated in key districts and could be swing votes in several battleground states. 500,000 of the Indian American voters are in the battleground states of Florida, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.
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