Indian-American big money runs 3 to 1 Republican as community votes Democratic

Washington: The best-known Indian-American political donors are giving about three dollars to Republicans for every one to Democrats in the 2026 midterm cycle, federal campaign finance records show, even as the community votes heavily Democratic.

A review of Federal Election Commission filings for 11 prominent donors found about $10.8 million in direct gifts to Republican committees and groups, against about $3.3 million to Democrats.

About $7.1 million of the Republican total is in three checks to the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc, from Asha Jadeja Motwani, Krishna Tripuraneni and Anjani Sinha.

The figures cover a sample of named donors, not all Indian-American giving.

The 2026 AAPI Voter Survey found Indian-American voters backing Democratic Senate candidates 66-18, though its Indian-American sample is small.

VoterAtlas, a site that matches FEC donors against Indian and South Asian surnames, counts $35.3 million in itemised 2026-cycle receipts through August 30, without a party split.

Some Republican money from these donors has reached opponents of Indian-American Democrats. Joint fundraising committees take one large check and divide it among party committees and candidates.

Grow the Majority, a House Republican joint fundraising committee, passed $7,000 each from Motwani’s and Palantir executive Shyam Sankar’s gifts to Jay Feely, who faces Democrat Amish Shah in Arizona’s 1st District. A $3,500 share of a gift in Sankar’s name went through Emmer Majority Builders to Casey Askar, Pia Dandiya’s opponent in Florida’s 22nd District.

On the Democratic side, the Impact Fund, political arm of Indian American Impact, has raised about $1.92 million this cycle and had about $331,000 cash on hand at September 30, FEC filings show. Its largest gift is $500,000 from WestBridge Capital’s Sumir Chadha.

It spent heavily in primaries but has reported no general-election independent expenditures. Outside groups have spent about $11.6 million against Shah and Dandiya.

Sankar gave $250,000 on July 15 to Americans 4 Security PAC, according to an October 15 quarterly report not yet processed by the FEC.

The Wisconsin-based super PAC has reported about $3.19 million in spending against Republican Representative Young Kim and about $51,000 supporting Representative Ken Calvert.

Sankar’s direct giving totals about $1.5 million. Separately, The Sankar Family Trust gave $250,000 to the Republican National Committee in May 2025.

Motwani’s direct giving tops $7 million, including $5.1 million to MAGA Inc and $886,000 to the RNC.

The largest Indian-American Democratic donor remains venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, with about $2.1 million, almost all to Senate Majority PAC.

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