Growing support: Over 60 State, local South Asian American elected leaders back Harris

Say the US Vice President's victory in the November 5 election would send a powerful signal to all Asian Americans, communities of colour, and women

New York: More than 60 South Asian American State and local elected officials from across the US have endorsed Kamala Harris for the presidency, saying that as the daughter of an Indian immigrant mother, she will create a “fairer and more inclusive” immigration system.

They also said that the US Vice President’s victory in the November 5 presidential election would send a powerful signal to all Asian Americans, communities of colour, and women. The officials joined the Indian American Impact in endorsing Harris, who is the 2024 Democratic candidate for President of the United States.

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“As South Asian elected officials, we proudly support Kamala Harris in her historic bid to become the first South Asian American woman President of the United States,” the officials said in a statement issued by The Indian American Impact Fund, which is dedicated to promoting and elevating voices of Indian and South Asian Americans in the political and civic life of the United States.

“As the daughter of an Indian immigrant mother, Harris will also “create a fairer and more inclusive immigration system,” the statement said, referring to Harris’s Chennai-born mother Shyamala Gopalan, a scientist who had moved to the US in the 1950s to pursue higher education.

“As an exceptional coalition builder, Harris possesses an extraordinary ability to unite our nation at a time when the stakes have never been higher,” it said. The statement added that Harris’s victory in the November 5 election would send a powerful signal to all Asian Americans, communities of colour, and women.

“By helping so many reimagine what is possible, a President Kamala Harris would affirm that the American Dream isn’t just an aspiration, but an achievable reality.” The officials extending their support to Harris include Lieutenant Governor of Maryland Aruna Katragadda Miller, Deputy Majority Leader, Washington State Senate Senator Manka Dhingra, North Carolina Senate Democratic Whip Jay J. Chaudhuri, New Jersey Senate Majority Conference Leader Vin Gopal and Virginia State Senator Ghazala Hashmi.

Other officials on the list are North Carolina State Senator Mujtaba A Mohammed, Georgia State Senator Sheikh Rahman, Vermont State Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale, Pennsylvania State Senator Nikil Saval, Michigan State Senator Sam Singh, Virginia State Senator Suhas Subramanyam, New York State Senator Kevin Thomas, Texas State Representative Salman Bhojani, Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija, Mayor of Cincinnati Aftab Pureval and City of Berkeley Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani.