The Democratic Party dominated congressional districts with large Indian-American populations in Tuesday’s midterm elections, winning 84 of the 100 seats with the largest concentrations of the community, an HT analysis of election data found. In addition to retaining many of these traditionally Democratic seats, the party wrested six from Republicans, whose tally fell to 15. Indian-American politician Amish Shah, whose race in Arizona’s 1st district has not yet been called, is leading in a Republican-held seat and could add to the Democratic tally.
Democratic dominance was strongest in California, where the party won 19 of the 20 seats on the top 100 list with the most Indian-Americans. Republican winners in Texas included Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne, whose district is home to nearly 23,000 Indian residents. Republican Trever Nehls won Texas’s 22nd district, which has about 45,000 Indian residents. Texas also delivered one of the Republicans’ few pickups: after the party redrew the state’s 32nd district, which is home to about 16,000 Indian residents, Republican Jace Yarbrough won the seat previously held by Democrat Julie Johnson. A Carnegie Endowment–YouGov survey conducted in October found that 62% of Indian-American citizens planned to vote for Democratic House candidates, compared with 19% for Republicans. In Senate races, the split was 63% to 21%. Carnegie’s previous survey – conducted between November 2025 and January 2026 – helps explain the mood. Only 29% of Indian-American adults approved of US President Donald Trump’s job performance, while 71% disapproved. In 2024, Carnegie found that 31% of Indian-American registered voters had planned to vote for Trump.
These included the 17th district, the most heavily Indian-American seat in the country, which Congressman Ro Khanna won for a sixth consecutive term. Nearly half said they often came across racist posts targeting Indians online, and almost a third said they had pulled back from political engagement on social media as a result. Van Duyne has drawn criticism for her proximity to conservative media figures such as Sara Gonzales, who have played up local fears of H-1B visa fraud allegedly involving members of the Indian community. The results largely align with the community’s political leanings. Inflation and prices topped the concerns, followed by jobs and the economy, health care and immigration.
The district includes Sugar Land, where Texas Republican Senate candidate Alexander Duncan sparked outrage in 2025 by calling a 90-foot Hanuman statue at a local Hindu temple a “false statue of a false Hindu God”.
