Indian Americans give $3 million to 2020 presidential campaigns

Indian Americans give $3 million to 2020 presidential campaigns
(Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry belongs to any of the many ethnic groups of the Republic of India)

Indian Americans are a sliver of the nation’s population but a growing political force. They have contributed more than $3 million to 2020 presidential campaigns — more than the coveted donors of Hollywood.

On the Democratic side, they are largely split among three candidates who have ties to their community: Sen. Kamala Harris of California, whose mother was born in India; Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a practicing Hindu; and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who counts a large Indian American population among his constituents.

Harris, who is the only major presidential candidate with Indian heritage, has raised more than $387,000 from the Indian American community for her 2020 bid, more than any other Democrat in the race, according to a Times analysis of disclosure forms filed by the campaigns. But the senator, who is also of Jamaican descent, is not an overwhelming favorite of Democratic donors: Gabbard was a close second with more than $374,000.

The LA Times identified contributors of Indian descent using fundraising disclosures and a database of names compiled by Diane Lauderdale, a social scientist at the University of Chicago. The list was derived from government surveys in which people provide their last name and a country of ancestry. The method is used by top universities to conduct elections research. However, it cannot identify all Indian Americans, so The Times’ analysis probably represents an undercount.

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-07-21/2020-indian-american-donors-kamala-harris-tulsi-gabbard-cory-booker-trump-biden