A new academic study has revealed that Indian-Americans have overwhelmingly favored the Democratic Party in political campaign donations over the past two decades. The research, led by Karnav Popat and Vishnu Prakash of Ashoka University alongside Joyojeet Pal of the University of Michigan, found that Indian-Americans provided about $46.6 million to Democrats compared to $16.3 million to Republicans during the 2020 presidential cycle.
The study highlights that Indian-American donors from nearly every sector—including traditionally conservative fields such as finance—aligned more with Democrats. Joyojeet Pal suggested that former President Donald Trump’s tariffs on India may have been linked to the community’s lack of financial support for him. In fact, Indian-Americans directed only 0.6% of their political donations toward Trump in 2016, one of the lowest levels of support among ethnic groups.
Researchers examined donation data spanning 22 years, from 2000 to 2022, using campaign finance records compiled by OpenSecrets. Because official records don’t list ethnicity, the team built an algorithm using a database of nearly 39 million names to identify donors of Indian origin. Muslim surnames such as Khan were excluded due to their prevalence across multiple countries, potentially undercounting Indian-American Muslims and Christians. Nonetheless, the researchers manually verified major contributors to ensure accuracy.
The analysis also illustrates the rise of Indian-Americans as a political force. The community’s population expanded from 1.9 million in 2000 to 4.9 million by 2023, a growth of over 150%. Alongside this demographic boom, the group has achieved economic success, boasting a median household income of $145,000 and 80% holding at least a bachelor’s degree. With affluence came political influence: campaign donations surged by 550%, increasing from about 6,700 donors in 2000 to more than 43,000 in 2020.
Healthcare professionals make up the largest group of contributors by volume, while finance donors dominate in dollar value, contributing $24.8 million in 2020 compared to healthcare’s $20.2 million. Technology workers gave $7.4 million, with Silicon Valley playing a major role. Much of this influence is exercised through “bundlers”—well-connected individuals who organize high-value fundraising events. Notably, in 2020 Indian-Americans accounted for 3% of Joe Biden’s bundlers, with figures like venture capitalist Ramesh Kapur and former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy hosting high-profile events.
The study also sheds light on Indian-American politicians who lean on their community for early support. Ro Khanna, for instance, raised 80% of his initial funds from Indian-American donors, while Suraj Patel collected $5.5 million largely from contributors with the same surname. Successful candidates, however, tend to broaden their donor networks as they advance.
Geographically, California led Indian-American contributions with $34.3 million in 2020, followed by New York and New Jersey. Donors in these states reflect the community’s professional strongholds: tech in California, finance in New York, and healthcare nationwide.
While most Indian-Americans are Hindu, their political stance diverges significantly from Hindu nationalist ideologies in India. Still, some wealthy Hindu donors, such as Harshad Patel in New York, support candidates aligned with pro-Modi or Hindutva views, showing that political giving within the community is not entirely monolithic.
