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Grassroots politics appears to have won out in the tri-state area where several Indian-Americans were elected to local level offices. Add to that the election of five Democrats to the U.S. Congress and several Indian-Americans in state legislatures and the gloom over the defeat of their favored presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, is somewhat lifted.
Meanwhile, even as tri-state Democrats are licking their wounds and assessing future strategies, a smaller group of Indian-American Republicans are rejoicing the victory of New York billionaire Donald Trump, who they contend will not only “Make America Great Again” but also improve U.S.-India strategic relations.
Grass-roots Winners
Several Indian-Americans and South Asians involved themselves in positions like town councils and memberships of the non-partisan boards of education across New Jersey. Some won and many lost, but it was still a significant move for many towards political involvement that could lead to higher elective offices in coming years.
Aspiring politicians must work from the bottom up and persist in their ambition for public service, say Indian-American political pundits and strategists. That path was adopted by California Attorney General Kamala Harris elected Nov. 8 to the U.S. Senate; Ro Khanna who defeated veteran Democratic Rep. Mike Honda; Rep. Ami Bera, D-California, re-elected to the U.S. House; From Washington state, Pramila Jayapal to the U.S. House; and from Illinois, Raja Krishnamoorthi, also to the House of Representatives.
However, in the tri-state area, Indian-American candidates for the federal races were not as successful as those at local levels. Peter Jacob lost to Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance from the 7th Congressional District. “But Peter did very well. He got 43 percent of the vote against a Trump wave in a district where Trump won overwhelmingly,” Vin Gopal, chair of the Monmouth County Democratic Party told Desi Talk. “He ran a very good race.”
On the other side of the aisle, Agha Khan, a Republican of Pakistani origin, ran from New Jersey’s 8th Congressional District, against Albio Sires was soundly defeated garnering 20,348 votes to Sires’ 78,395.
At the state level it was a mixed result. Connecticut State Representative Prasad Srinivasan, a Republican, was re-elected to office from Assembly District 31.
But Pramilla Malick, a Democratic candidate for New York State Senate District 42, was defeated by 9-term incumbent Republican State Sen. John Bonacic. For a neophyte she made a reasonably good showing winning nearly 40,000 (39,796) votes to Bonacic’s 63,284. The mother of four and resident of Orange County, is an anti-fracking, community rights activist, who said she wanted to get corruption out of politics.
At the more local level, Shanti Narra, won her race for Middlesex County Freeholder. She becomes the first Indian-American in New Jersey to win a county-wide seat, Gopal noted. The North Brunswick, N.J., is a practicing attorney with the Legal Aid Society of New York, where she supervises the Criminal Defense Division. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.
In another first, Virbhadra ‘Viru’ Patel, became the first Indian-American to get elected to the Woodbridge Town Council in New Jersey from the 4th Ward. Patel was sworn-in this August to fill the remainder of his predecessor’s term. According to news reports, Woodbridge, with a population of around 100,000 includes the neighborhoods of Iselin and Menlo Park Terrace where Indian-Americans live in significant numbers.
In Jersey City, Sudhan Thomas, a historian, was among the top three winners to the Board of Education. He will occupy that position for the 3-year term for this volunteer position.
Looking at it from a campaign strategist’s perspective, Gopal believes Indian-Americans need to keep organizing, especially with upcoming gubernatorial races, and to help state Assemblyman Mukherji win in 2017. “A large number of Indian-Americans have engaged the political system,” Gopal points out. He expects that trend to continue.
In the presidential race, according to close observers and participants, a majority of Indian-Americans in New Jersey voted for Clinton, Gopal contended. “Clinton did much better than Trump,” in areas where Indian-Americans are in significant numbers, Gopal said. Thirty five percent of Edison, N.J. is Indian-American and Clinton won 22,000 votes to Trump’s 13,000, he noted. In Woodbridge, Clinton won 21,000 to Trump’s 16,000. “Those Indian-Americans who did vote, probably voted for Clinton,” Gopal told Desi Talk.
Those Indian-Americans in the thick of the presidential campaign were the most disappointed and shocked. Apart from the disappointment, some are concerned about the potential for increased racial profiling with the victory of a candidate whose campaign rhetoric they considered incendiary. But they find a silver lining in the election of numerous Democratic lawmakers to Capitol Hill and the rise in voter turnout among Indian-Americans.
For Amit Jani of New Jersey, founder of South Asians for Hillary Clinton the defeat is particularly disappointing. “It is unfathomable to us that America would choose a guy who is bigoted, sexist … It’s going to take time to get ourselves together,” he said. “But we will get mobilized for many other elections coming up.”
Those interviewed believe that overall, the way Indian-American Democrats mobilized for the presidential election would pay dividends in coming months and years. It could result in a more structured operation for national and state -level races, Jani said, adding, “We may not have been able to help break the tallest glass ceiling, but we were able to make several cracks in it with the victory of so many Indians to Congress and to state and local level offices.”
While Indian-Americans are not monolithic in their political beliefs, more than 70 percent of them have supported the Democratic Party for decades. Yet, Republican Indian-Americans have been an influential voice in past elections and administrations, constantly trying to broaden the base of their party.
“We delivered our voters,” declared Shekar Narasimhan, founder of Asian American Victory Fund, and former member of the Democratic National Committee’s Indian American Leadership Council. “We doubled the number of first-time Asian American voters in North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Florida,” Narasimhan told Desi Talk.
Dave Makkar, co-founder of Indian Americans for Trump, an organization started in New Jersey, said the President-elect “will increase legal immigration, especially Indian students who come to Ivy League institutions will get green cards.”
Another co-founder of Indian-Americans For Trump A.D. Amar, also from New Jersey, said Trump had read the pulse of the American pe on trade, illegal immigration. “He took on both these problems head on, and never budged from his goal to handle them,” Amar told Desi Talk. “American voters knew it, appreciated it and decided to vote for Trump. Nevertheless, the Democratic owned media engaged in self-serving prophecy that turned out to be a farce on the Election Day,” he added.
However, there was considerable anxiety among Democrats Desi Talk spoke to around the country. Some contended there was already a rise in hate crime and sexual assaults, that hate rhetoric against Muslims, other minorities, and women, was now being “normalized”
“As an Indian woman and progressive Democrat, its worrisome,” said Anisha Singh, a resident of Washington, D.C., and a campaign manager at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. She was concerned about possible changes in the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, and the Supreme Court, which could alter progressive legislation.
Amar rejected the idea that minorities are now threatened. “Trump’s election will have no adverse impact on Muslims or minorities. It will not have any effect on honest, hardworking Muslim-Americans; however, it will negatively impact those who enter this country with hate and the intent to harm America by terrorizing American population,” Amar said. He also believes Trump will improve the trade deficit and create millions of new jobs by manufacturing ordinary consumer goods at home rather than importing them from other countries. “Trump can, in fact, turn the fate of American middle class and put the economy on a 4% growth rate,” Amar contended.
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