Gerrymandering and the Partisan Lean of Districts
When we think about elections here in the US, we normally think of a competitive election between a Republican and a Democrat getting decided on Election Day in November. Both candidates are fighting hard, and it should theoretically be possible for either side to win the seat.
That’s actually no longer the case most of the time.
In most states now, districts are drawn to maximize the number of seats that can be won by one or the other party. Calculations exist to figure out how likely any district will vote for a Democrat or a Republican, based on the last presidential election. Those drawing the districts (usually state legislators) use specialized software that can use election precinct level mapping to figure out voting patterns for the district. The upshot is that the vast majority of Congressional, state legislative districts, and even county level seats can already be determined as to which party will likely win them in November. This is called “gerrymandering”.
Even in states like California and Michigan, where district lines are being drawn by nonpartisan commissions, there are still many seats that have been drawn that end up more likely to favor one party or the other. These are not gerrymandered districts in the sense that they were not intentionally drawn this way, but the way the population has settled, the district has a “partisan lean” that can be calculated. So whether the district is gerrymandered or just has a partisan lean, you’ll hear a seat being described as a safe blue or red seat, or a likely blue or red seat.
What that translates to is that the winner of the election is generally decided in the party primary election, which can be anywhere from March to August. This is not something we are normally used to, but it matters greatly for candidate selection. Both parties have their extreme members and their moderate members, and you see these battles being decided in the primary election now.
What does this mean for Hindu American PAC? When we’re evaluating a candidate and a decision to endorse in a race, we will frequently look to see whether the district is drawn in a way that significantly favors one party or the other. If that is the case, we will factor it into our calculations about which candidate we endorse. It also means that we will evaluate that party’s primary election as the most important election, as opposed to the general election.
If the seat is a true swing seat, however, we will focus on both the party primary election and the general election. The same applies for any state-level or congressional seat in California and Washington state, since those are open primaries in which all candidates run.
If you’d like to read more about gerrymandering and partisan lean, here are the following resources:
Brookings Institution: A Primer on Gerrymandering and Political Polarization
Bloomberg Government: What Gerrymandering Means and Why It’s Here to Stay
Hindu American PAC Bids Outgoing Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard Farewell
The Hindu American Political Action Committee (HAPAC) would like to recognize a historic campaign from this current election cycle: the run of the first ever Hindu American for the position of President of the United States. We heartily recognize and congratulate Tulsi Gabbard, the outgoing U.S. Representative of Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District, for her inspiring presidential bid in the primaries held earlier this year.
This is not the first time that Congresswoman Gabbard has made history. When she was elected in 2012, she became the first Hindu-American elected to Congress.
We are deeply grateful for Congresswoman Gabbard’s service to our country both as a member of Congress and the Hawaii Army National Guard. She will remain an inspiring role model for Hindu Americans of all ages on how a person can be proud of their heritage and champion Hindu values like compassion, steadfastness, and equal regard for all beings on a path of service. We thank her for her annual greetings on Janmashtami and Diwali which expressively educated people of all backgrounds about Hinduism’s universal message of peace, love, and selflessness. We are honored to have worked with her and wish her the best in her future plans.
Hindu American Political Action Committee 2020 US Election Statement
After tallying the largest vote count in United States history, it is clear that former Vice President Joe Biden will be inaugurated as the 46th President. The Hindu American Political Action Committee (HAPAC) welcomed the culmination of a peaceful and fair 2020 election season demonstrating the robustness of the American democracy, but also a divided country with clear political divisions that must be understood and reconciled.
“We congratulate President-elect Joe Biden for his imminent victory, and look forward to working with him and his Administration,” said Rishi Bhutada, HAPAC board member, “Hindu issues are American issues, and Mr. Biden has laid out a strong Hindu and Indian American agenda that we look forward to fulfilling together.”
HAPAC also congratulates Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on becoming the first woman as well as the first person of Black and Indian descent to become Vice President.
HAPAC maintained communications with the President Donald Trump and Biden campaigns throughout the election season. HAPAC created a questionnaire outlining issues of concerns to Hindu Americans that was sent to both campaigns. The Biden campaign completed the questionnaire and it was published and distributed by HAPAC, marking the first time a U.S. Presidential campaign directly addressed the Hindu American community and its concerns.
HAPAC leaders continue to assess results, celebrate wins and are beginning to plan for the next round of national elections due in just two years. Recent national media coverage highlights the prominence and influence HAPAC has achieved, and the PAC’s endorsements were closely watched and covered.
The reelection of Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D, IL) with over 70% of the vote was a remarkable victory in the Illinois 8th District, and welcomed by HAPAC as Rep. Krishnamoorthi, the first Hindu to preside over the House of Representatives and one of the most consistent advocates for Hindu Americans in the U.S. Congress, reclaimed his seat.
HAPAC welcomed the elevation of Niraj Antani (R, OH) from the Ohio state House to the Ohio state Senate. Sen. Antani became the youngest and first Hindu American Republican state senator in the United States. Sen. Antani’s efforts to educate Republican Members of Congress on India’s decision to abrogate Article 370 to protect Kashmiri Hindus and textbook revisions in California to accurately depict Hinduism have made him a national political leader for Hindu Americans.
Rep. Padma Kuppa (D, MI), a pioneering Hindu American interfaith community advocate, was reelected by a double-digit margin for Michigan’s 41st State House District. Her leadership and advocacy on behalf of Hindu Americans in strengthening hate crime legislation, immigration and textbook reform and representations of Hindus in the media makes her one of the most vocal community allies in a state house anywhere in the country.
Jennifer Rajkumar (D, NY), a public interest lawyer, prevailed in her race to represent New York’s 38th Assembly District becoming the first Hindu to be seated in the New York State Assembly. Representing a diverse Queen borough district, Rep. Rajkumar will lead a district with one of the highest concentrations of Hindu Americans in the country with several temples and Hindu owned businesses.
HAPAC was disappointed that Sri Kulkarni came up short in his hard fought race to represent Texas’s 22nd District in the U.S. House. A polyglot former Foreign Service Officer who also served as a senior aide in the U.S. Senate, Sri worked especially hard to unite an increasingly diverse Houston-area community in his quest to represent the district he grew up in as the Democratic nominee. Dr. Hiral Tipirneni, the Democratic nominee for Arizona District 6’s House seat, and a HAPAC endorsed candidate, also lost in a closely fought election race.
As the Hindu American Foundation reported, Kulkarni’s campaign was a target of multiple attacks by a political operative with ties to a California Democratic leader, who was hired by a co-founder of the Indian American Muslim Council to attack Sri with allegations of dual loyalties. The Hinduphobic dirty tricks campaign, that included illegal campaign advertisements, sought to peel away Muslim American voters with false claims of loyalties to foreign political organizations.
HAPAC notes that Trump carried the Texas 22nd District making it very difficult for Kulkarni to overcome the challenge of flipping a red district blue, and lost by 24,000 votes. Based on the vote analysis, HAPAC was heartened that most Texas Muslims were not moved by the smear campaign against Sri and voted for Kulkarni as the Democratic nominee.
“We are proud of the work HAPAC did in supporting strong Hindu American candidates and elevating our community’s concerns to the national agenda,” said Rakhi Israni, a member of the HAPAC Board of Directors. “Our work has just begun as we prepare for 2022, and will continue to seek out and support candidates that understand and represent the highest values and aspirations of the 3 million strong Hindu American community.”
Editorial Note: This statement has been revised since it was first published.
Hindu American PAC Presidential Endorsement Questionnaire
The Hindu American PAC (HAPAC), the only independent, non-partisan PAC representing the Hindu American community, sent both major party presidential campaigns a questionnaire addressing issues of contemporary concern. President Trump's campaign replied that the campaign would not be completing the questionnaire HAPAC created. Former Vice President Biden's campaign did consent to review the questionnaire, and then responded to all of the questions posed, and the response is published here in its entirety without alteration. To our knowledge, this is the first time a major party presidential candidate has responded to a questionnaire sent by a Hindu American group. Hindu American PAC appreciates the historic nature of this engagement by the Biden campaign.
HAPAC notes that the Biden campaign's answers specifically recognize that Hindu American students are being bullied on the basis of how Hinduism is misrepresented in classrooms and that this should be rectified; that crimes against Hindus and Hindu mandirs based on religion must be recognized as hate crimes; and the campaign expresses a commitment to ending country of origin caps for employment-based green cards. These domestic policy issues are of critical importance to the Hindu American community.
HAPAC also notes that in response to the final question posed to the campaign on cross-border terrorism sponsored by Pakistan in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the Biden campaign stated that the Biden-Harris administrations will have "no tolerance" for terrorism in South Asia, "cross-border or otherwise." We welcome this recognition of the scourge of terrorism in South Asia, largely sponsored by Pakistan, and the Biden campaign's commitment to working closely with India as a "counter-terrorism partner."
Since the Trump campaign did not respond to the questionnaire, HAPAC will refrain from offering an official endorsement. Instead, HAPAC offers the full response from the Biden campaign here.
Hindu American PAC Statement on George Floyd and US Policing
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
- Martin Luther King Jr.
The Hindu American Political Action Committee (HAPAC) stands in solidarity with the African-American community in condemning the horrible death of George Floyd and calling out the use of excessive force and violence against people of color by the police forces across the nation.
While we welcome the necessary first step of holding Officer Derek Chauvin and other officers responsible for their actions, there is much more required to rid our society of the systemic injustices perpetrated against a group of people solely based on the color of their skin.
The Hindu American Political Action Committee is committed to opposing all forms of hate. As Hindus, we sincerely understand the pain, anguish, and destruction caused by any form of persecution, whether it is on the basis of the color of one’s skin or the beliefs that one espouses.
We therefore call for the US Department of Justice to conduct a fair and impartial investigation without political interference into Mr. George Floyd’s death and to further do what is necessary and proper to heal the wound that has been torn open by the circumstances related to Mr. Floyd’s painful death. We also call upon the US Congress to pass substantive police reform legislation that will begin to address these systematic issues.
We also call upon local authorities throughout our country to allow peaceful demonstrations, while making sure to protect local businesses of all sizes from those who seek to use the cover of said demonstrations to perpetrate violence and theft.