New Delhi: Indian-Americans are once again leaning towards Democrats ahead of the 2026 United States midterm elections, according to the Indian American Attitudes Survey.
The October 2026 survey, conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in partnership with YouGov, found that 62 per cent of Indian-American US citizens intend to vote for the Democratic candidate in their congressional district. The community numbers fewer than 6 million and accounts for around 1.5 per cent of the US population.
In comparison, just 19 per cent said they intended to vote for Republican candidates. Another 12 per cent were undecided, 5 per cent did not intend to vote and 2 per cent backed other candidates.
In states holding Senate elections, the split was similar, with 63 per cent favouring Democratic candidates and 21 per cent backing Republicans.
The results mark a rebound in Democratic support since the beginning of the year.
According to the January 2026 IAAS, support for Democratic congressional candidates had fallen to 57 per cent, while 25 per cent favoured Republicans. In the 2024 presidential election, 62 per cent of Indian-Americans had supported Kamala Harris, while 30 per cent backed Donald Trump.
“Results from a new survey conducted ahead of the midterm elections reveal a backlash against Trump and the Republican Party accompanied by a rebound in support for the Democratic Party,” the report states.
Indian-Americans have traditionally leaned heavily towards the Democratic Party.
The community has drawn renewed attention this year after a Republican candidate for a Texas state office shared a photograph of South Asian students at the University of Texas celebrating a football victory and questioned their presence at the university. The post triggered conversations around identity and belonging among Indian-Americans.
Older men drive Democratic rebound
The survey, which covered 1,000 Indian-American adults, found that the recovery in Democratic support was particularly sharp among older men.
Among men aged 40 and above, Republican support fell from 32 per cent in January 2026 to 16 per cent in October. Democratic support, meanwhile, rose from 53 per cent to 68 per cent.
Younger men also showed a shift towards Democrats. While around 40 per cent had backed Trump in the 2024 presidential election, only 23 per cent now favour Republican congressional candidates, compared with 64 per cent who support Democrats.
Among women, the picture was more mixed.
Around 58 per cent of younger women continued to support Democrats, although this was a 10-percentage-point decline from January. Among older women, Democratic support recovered from 50 per cent to 58 per cent.
Opposition to Republicans also shapes voting choices
The survey found that negative partisanship—voting against a party or candidate rather than out of support for one’s preferred side—played a significant role in voting intentions.
Among respondents planning to vote for Democrats, 65 per cent said they were motivated by support for the Democratic candidate or party, while 35 per cent cited opposition to the Republican candidate.
Among Republican voters, 83 per cent said they were voting primarily in support of their party, while 17 per cent were motivated by opposition to Democrats.
The report concluded that Democrats had recovered some ground, but that the rebound was only partial and was driven in significant part by opposition to Republicans. Republicans, meanwhile, had struggled to turn their earlier gains among Indian-Americans into sustained support.
“Recent shifts in the voting preferences of Indian Americans suggest that, even within a community that has long backed the Democratic Party, there exists a pool of persuadable voters,” the authors write.
“While Democrats will be buoyed by the fact that support for the party has rebounded somewhat, this recovery has not led to stronger partisan attachment. The Republican Party, in turn, should consider why its recent inroads have not translated into sustained gains at the ballot box.”
(Edited By Raunaq Lekhi)