Two Indian Americans dominated the stage at Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate. It was a rare matchup and, with such a bright spotlight on them, much has been made of Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy’s ethnicity. But new data shows Asian American voters don’t actually care about identity when it comes to casting their ballots.
A study released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center showed that, for the vast majority of Asian Americans, voting preferences had little to do with a candidate’s race. As many as 97% of Asian American voters said they cared more about candidates’ policy positions than their race or ethnicity, the study showed.
Given that data, experts said, the two Republican stars weren’t likely to reel in community members with their identities alone — and they weren’t necessarily trying to.
“I think there might be an element of curiosity, novelty or even pride that Asian American voters feel with these two candidates doing as well as they’re doing,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder of nonprofit group AAPI Data. “But it’s very unlikely to translate into votes.”
The majority of Asian American registered voters (62%) identified more with the Democratic Party, the study noted, while 34% preferred the Republican Party. Indian Americans were among the most progressive even under the Asian umbrella, with 56% identifying as Democrat and 15% as Republican, according to the 2022 Asian American Voter Survey.
“Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy stand very far to the right of where most Asian American voters are and where most Indian American voters are,” Ramakrishnan said. “It’s highly unlikely that an Asian American Democrat is going to cross the aisle and vote for an Asian American Republican candidate.”
Party lines usually hold firm for voters across ethnicities, despite the race of the candidates, he said. But the study also found that 68% of Asian American voters do want a national leader who advances the concerns…
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