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Indian Americans turn to Democrats ahead of US midterms: Why it matters
US midterm elections 2026 see strong AAPI voter interest, with Indian-American voters showing a clear preference for Democratic candidates.
FULL ARTICLE · The Indian Express World
3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Sep 9, 2026 01:06 PM IST
For the Congressional vote, Democrats remain the top choice as they hold an advantage on voters’ top issue. (Photo: Donald Trump/ X)
Indian-American voters are strongly favouring Democratic candidates ahead of the November US midterm elections, even as many Asian American and Pacific Islander voters report feeling politically exhausted, according to a new national survey.
According to the data, 16 million Asian American and Pacific Islander or AAPI voters will be eligible in 2026, including 1.6 million newly eligible voters since the 2022 midterm polls. The stats show strong interest in the November 3 US midterm elections: 90 per cent of AAPI registered voters say they plan to vote in the 2026 midterms, up from 84 per cent in 2022 and 86 per cent in 2018.
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US Midterms 2026
Indian-American voters lean Democratic
A new survey of Asian American and Pacific Islander voters shows where Indian Americans stand on the 2026 midterm races — and how that compares with the wider AAPI electorate.
Indian-American voters
If the election were held today
US Senate
Democrat
66%
Republican
22%
US House
Democrat
66%
Republican
18%
For comparison: all AAPI voters
Senate
Democrat60%
Republican24%
House
Democrat64%
Republican22%
Source: 2026 Asian American Voter Survey, Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) & AAPI Data, released Aug 26, 2026. Based on 2,066 registered voters surveyed June 3-July 27; Indian-American subgroup of 242 respondents (Senate finding based on 148). Remaining share in each race reflects other-party and undecided responses.
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66% of American Indians favour Democrats
Among the American Indian voters, 66 per cent are backing Democratic candidates in the Senate race. About 42 per cent of Filipino voters have also shown support for the Democratic Party; however, Filipino voters are the only group in which Republican preference (49 per cent) exceeds Democratic preference.
“With Asian Americans being the fastest-growing electorate in the country, it’s crucial that we have the latest data on what motivates them to turn out and vote,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and executive director of AAPI Data.
Cost of living tops voter concerns
Among the issues concerning the voters who participated in the survey, cost of living and inflation are the dominant concerns, with 90 per cent of Asian Americans and 89 per cent of Pacific Islanders saying it is very important in deciding how they vote. Health care is also among the list of issues as a top concern for 82 per cent of Asian American voters. Jobs, unemployment, and Social Security and Medicare are closely followed in the issues concerning the voters.
Democrats lead in House vote
Democrats hold a clear advantage in both congressional contests. For the US House, 64 per cent of AAPI voters prefer Democratic candidates, compared with 22 per cent for Republicans; for the Senate, the gap is 60 per cent to 24 per cent.
Survey covers over 2,000 voters
The AAPI survey, which was carried out between June 3 and July 27, reached 2,066 voters, including 1,896 Asian Americans and 170 Pacific Islanders, with “sampling quotas by ethnicity to support disaggregated analysis.”
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