Both parties court Indian Americans in Michigan battleground

Washington: Republicans and Democrats in Michigan are openly courting Indian-American voters three weeks before the November 3 midterms, with the state Republican Party claiming community backing for Senate nominee Mike Rogers and Democrats pitching the prospect of an Indian-American Speaker of the state House.

The Michigan Republican Party said in a post on X on Sunday night that "The Indian-American community in Michigan is coming out big-time for Mike Rogers and our entire Republican ticket.”

The post, billed as a live update from the field in Oakland County, named Michigan GOP Co-Chair Sunny Reddy and Republican National Committee National Committeewoman Hima Kolanagireddy, both Indian Americans, as among those at the event.

The party did not give figures on turnout or voter support for its claim.

Hours earlier, a Democratic state House campaign, posting as @HaleyforMI, said Democrats were "about to flip the state house and make Ranjeev Puri THE FIRST! Indian American State House Speaker in the country!”

Puri, a Democrat from Canton in Wayne County, has been House Democratic Leader since January 2025. He represents the 24th District and is on the ballot for re-election.

Republicans currently control the Michigan House under Speaker Matt Hall, while Democrats hold the state Senate and the governorship.

Puri would become Speaker only if Democrats win a House majority and his caucus elects him to the post.

A review of state legislative leadership records found no Indian American who has served as Speaker of a state House or Assembly. Indian Americans have held senior posts below that level, including Upendra Chivukula and Raj Mukherji, both deputy speakers in the New Jersey General Assembly.

After the August 4 primary, Puri said House Democrats' mission was "to take back the Michigan House, restore our Democratic trifecta, and keep our state moving forward.”

The outreach comes as the Senate race between Rogers, a former Republican congressman, and Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed has turned bitter.

At a rally in Youngstown, Ohio on Monday night, President Donald Trump attacked El-Sayed, who was born in Michigan to Egyptian immigrants.

"You look at the guy running in Michigan. He's a jihadist," Trump said.

Trump had also called El-Sayed a "radical jihadist" at a rally in Clarksville, Tennessee on Saturday, and has repeatedly referred to him as "Mohammed" rather than Abdul.

"He knows my name is Abdul. He says it every day. But he's not just attacking me. He's attacking all of us," El-Sayed said in response on X.

If elected, El-Sayed would be the first Muslim member of the US Senate.

Neither post offered details of Indian-American voter registration or turnout in Michigan, and neither campaign has released polling on the community's preferences.

Michigan has a sizable Indian-American population concentrated in the Detroit suburbs, including Oakland County and Canton Township.

The state was one of the narrowest battlegrounds in the 2024 presidential election, and the Senate seat is open following the retirement of Democrat Gary Peters.

Indian Americans have traditionally leaned Democratic, though Republicans have sought to make inroads in recent cycles, fielding a growing number of community candidates and appointing community leaders to party posts.

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