Kamala’s swing states challenge, through 3 Indian-origin backers

American elections boil down to the outcome in six or seven swing states.

On the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, HT spoke to three Democratic Indian-American politicians who are legislators and elected officials or candidates in three of these swing states of Pennsylvania, Arizona and Michigan (the other states are Georgia, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Nevada) for their assessments of Kamala Harris’ candidacy, her prospects, and the impact of her identity.

Pennsylvania: The must-win state for Harris

‘The state will turn more blue because of who is pro-science, Kamala has energised us’ — Arvind Venkat, State Legislator

Arvind Venkat is the first Indian-American in the Pennsylvania state house. An Emergency room doctor, he was involved in the state’s Covid-19 response and felt more people from a science and health background were needed to frame public policy, for health was about so much more — “affordable housing, clean environment, clean water, rights.”

On the stakes of the presidential election, during a bus ride in Chicago between two convention sites, Venkat said that this election was about a radically different vision that Kamala Harris and Donald Trump had for the country — on reproductive freedom, health care, gun violence, participatory democracy, taxation, relations with the rest of the world and more. “Harris sees the government as a force for good for the working people and middle class. Trump wants to give tax cuts to the wealthiest. He appointed judges who reversed abortion rights, and wants to continue rolling back environmental protections. Harris wants to protect American alliances and sees America as a force for democracy and collective security. Trump wants to isolate US and sees international relations as some protection racket.”

Venkat is from the Allegheny county, which was traditionally Republican and voted for Trump in 2016 but turned to Joe Biden in 2020. He himself was a registered Republican till 2008. “I didn’t leave the party. The party left me. Before the Affordable Care Act, 20% of my voters didn’t have insurance; the number dropped to 8% or so after the legislation. I feel Pennsylvania will turn more blue because voters care about science and health care and this Republican Party doesn’t.”

On the state of the race, Venkat’s analysis indicated that Trump would continue to get a majority of the votes in rural areas and the key for Democrats will be both lowering the margin of Trump’s edge in these rural districts, particularly in western Pennsylvania, and scoring big wins in the large cities and suburbs of the states.

When asked what Harris needed to win over the swing voters in his state, Venkat said, “The most powerful issue that’s pulling moderate Republicans to Democrats is abortion, which is leading to a huge gender gap among movers. The other is gun safety and the third is democracy, particularly protection of voting rights and election results. These issues will matter on the margins.” He also underlined the need for personal engagement, claiming he had knocked on 29,000 doors during his 2022 campaign and now.

Venkat acknowledged that economy remained Harris’s biggest challenge, and the campaign had to do more work to assure voters in areas such as his that were dependent on energy; Harris had already backtracked from her earlier demand for a complete ban on fracking. She had to show how her policies would both improve the lives of people and ensure growth, he said. On immigration, another issue that Republicans have leveraged, Venkat pointed out that western Pennsylvania’s demography and growth was shrinking. “Yes we need border security. We need to deploy more individuals. But we also need channels of legal migration. Eastern Pennsylvania is growing due to immigration while western is shrinking.”

The Indian-American vote, which Venkat claimed was energised with Harris’s candidacy, mattered in the state, and was greater than the margin of victory for Biden in 2020. According to Indian American Impact, there are 600,000 Asian-Americans in Pennsylvania, of which Indian-Americans are the largest bloc. Venkat claimed that a majority of these voters are consolidating behind Harris. Asked about the risk of a White majoritarian backlash against Harris’s candidacy, Venkat recalled how his opponent in the campaign had used a dog whistle by telling voters that she was one of them -- implicitly telling them that he was not. With a smile, he said, “Well, that galvanised the Asian American vote to turn out for me.”

Arizona: The key border state

‘Harris’s candidacy has completely changed race dynamics’ — Priya Sundareshan, State Senator

Priya Sundareshan was born and raised in Tucson. She studied chemical engineering but always had an interest in environment, natural resources and the climate crisis. She went to law school, where she understood the importance of protecting the vote. “As I learnt about it, I realised there was only one party that had been responsible for the history of voter suppression and aimed to exclude minority voters from both voting and the power structure. Democrats always protected the right to vote. Republicans excluded them.”

Sundareshan claimed that the core issue in the election was which party “recognised reality, science, facts, moved forward to address problems rather than living in fantasy land and making it the reality you prefer”. She added, “Who is going to solve the problems rather than engage in election denialism and fraud? Who believes in climate science, vaccines, modern technology? Republicans are a reactionary extreme party bent on taking us backward. And we are not going back,” she said, using a line that has become a staple of the Harris campaign.

Sundareshan claimed that Harris’s candidacy had energised them and the nominee had brought a “cross-coalition appeal”, motivating groups who weren’t otherwise enthused about voting this cycle. “The young are excited. Indian-Americans are excited.” Asked if Harris had been able to persuade swing voters yet, she claimed that they had too had been turned off by the “rejection of reality”.

Abortion is a big issue in Arizona and is on the ballot this cycle, Sundareshan said, and pointed out that Harris had been the leader on the issue. Asked if illegal immigration and border security remained the biggest vulnerability for Democrats in the state, which borders Mexico, Sundareshan said, “Border crossings have been down in the past few months. The administration is taking steps. People know Republicans killed a bipartisan border bill.”

Returning to the theme of the Indian-American vote, Sundareshan said that every voter bloc mattered, and Biden had won the state in 2020 by 10,000 votes. “Every single community can claim they are the margin of victory,” she said, with a smile but also pointed out that Harris’s candidacy had undoubtedly energised the community. “Last Saturday, I went to a meeting of the Indian society of southern Arizona. I pointed out that she could be the first Indian-American president: it wasn’t an applause line necessarily. And yet, the hall erupted in applause. The community is far more engaged”.

Michigan: Will the Blue wall hold?

Important for Democrats to understand the plight of the Arab American community — Ranjeev Puri, House majority whip

Democrats control the governor’s mansion, the state house and the state senate in the critical state of Michigan. And Ranjeev Puri, who got into politics after a horrifying episode of mass shooting in his home town gurdwara of Oak Creek in Wisconsin to advocate for gun safety laws, is the House majority whip.

Speaking to HT on the sidelines of an event to celebrate South Asian leaders in Chicago, Puri said that Harris’s candidacy had helped shift the narrative in Michigan. “There is tremendous new energy back into the mix. This campaign is resembling the 2008 campaign in terms of the Barack Obama coalition and excitement among the base to volunteer and call neighbours and friends. This is a grassroots campaign. The challenge now is ensuring that they turn out to vote. Michigan is a purple state that is turning Blue. And we need all hands on deck.”

Having all hands on deck is the most serious challenge for the party, for the state is also the hub of the Arab American population furious with what they see as American complicity in Israel’s war in Gaza. In the conversation, which took place before Harris made her remarks on the war on Thursday, Puri said that it was important for Democrats to understand the plight of the community.

“It is incumbent on the leadership to understand the personal struggle they have endured. Joe Biden said that a permanent ceasefire is necessary and the death of innocent people can’t be justified. If we can continue to have honest conversations about their experiences, I am hopeful that we can find a political solution.”

Puri said that Harris was ready for the job and was doing her bit to persuade swing voters by offering a clear vision of the presidency that stood in contrast to Trump’s vision underlined in project 2025 -- the Heritage Foundation blueprint for Trump’s term that the former has distanced himself from, but Democrats claim represents his true agenda. “It pits community against community, talks of mass deportation, and will set countries decades back. Kamala’s America is about moving forward and restoring the American dream.”

Puri said that it will also help that Harris had presented a strong economic plan with a focus on reducing inflation, restoring housing supply, and addressing kitchen table issues. In addition, in the Midwest, Tim Walz’s nomination as vice president, Puri said, will resonate. “He is the type of politician that most candidates spend millions of dollars trying to emulate: Football coach, dad, genuine good guy, that resonates with everyday Americans. All sides of the coalition were excited to see this pick.”

Puri said that Harris’s candidacy was truly historic for the Asian American and Indian American community, for they could, for the first time, see themselves in the presidential candidate. On whether there is a risk of a white majoritarian backlash, Puri said that there was always such a risk but insisted that what made America truly great was that it was a melting pot: “That should be celebrated. Americans know that this country is as strong as Americans who make up the country.”