Chasing the Hindu Vote

Barely a week after Virginia's gubernatorial elections in November, campaign signs were still ubiquitous as I traveled in and around Loudoun County. Thanks to controversy around culture wars in its schools, the county -- part of D.C.'s northern Virginia suburbs -- had been front and center in media coverage of the election, but Loudoun's demographics were largely overlooked by reporters. Asians are the area's second largest racial/ethnic group, after whites. During their campaigns, both incumbent Terry McAuliffe and Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin reached out to Hindu community leaders as part of their effort to reach Asian American voters. And though Hindu Americans may not have been the electoral tipping point for Youngkin, a potential partisan shift toward the GOP among this predominantly immigrant group may signal a broader national electoral shift.