2024, the long-anticipated election year, is approaching fast. Though we are more than a year away from the actual presidential elections, discussion about the primaries and caucuses has begun within public spheres, news platforms, and social media. On the Democratic side, President Biden has announced his intent to run for reelection. The incumbent president is expected to be the party’s 2024 nominee, as the campaigns of his two declared Democratic opponents, RFK Jr. and Marianne Williamson, have failed to pick up steam. “No sitting president in modern American history has been successfully primaried,” says The Week. More uncertain, however, is the outcome of the Republican primaries. Fourteen total Republicans have declared their candidacy in the 2024 race, and the first Republican primary debate occurred on August 23rd between six of them. Notably, two of them are of Indian descent. Let’s talk about Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley as they vie against each other and twelve other candidates for the position of Republican nominee.
Vivek Ramaswamy is the son of Indian immigrants who came to the U.S. with very little to their name, but made his fortune as a venture capitalist—a fact which Ramaswamy often uses as a main point of his campaign. “My parents came to this country with no money 40 years ago,” he said during the debate. “I have gone on to found multibillion-dollar companies. I did it while marrying my wife Apoorva, raising our two sons, following our faith in God. That is the American dream.” He presents himself as the model of the ideal Republican American Dream, where anyone, even a poor immigrant, can thrive in the United States if they work hard enough. This is noteworthy considering how Ramaswamy is quite the exception from the average member of the GOP: he is a person of color, the son of immigrants, Hindu, and only 38 years old. Vox calls Ramaswamy a kind of “Trojan horse” who at first glance, appears to symbolize a new, diverse generation, yet embodies the same ideals that older White GOP members support.
This cycle of presidential elections is Ramaswamy’s first foray into politics. He is primarily an entrepreneur, who initially gained wealth from his business ventures while at Yale Law School, and eventually founded the pharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences. Forbes estimated his net worth at around $950 million as of August this year.
As a newcomer with no political experience, Ramaswamy seeks to win the hearts of Republican voters by branding himself as an outgoing, lively, and unscripted personality. At the primary debate, he commanded center stage, and “hewed closely to Mr. Trump,” says the New York Times. By actively putting himself front and center, and not hesitating to attack or be attacked by his opponents, he gained considerable exposure and shot up to third in opinion polls after the debate, following Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis.
Nikki Haley is also the daughter of Indian immigrant parents. Born Nimarata Nikki Randhawa, she grew up Sikh but converted to Christianity in 1997. In 2005, Haley was elected to South Carolina’s House of Representatives, and in 2011, became the state’s governor. She was the first Indian-American in either of these positions, but has been criticized for having an “on-and-off public relationship with her Indian heritage,” according to Insider. Detractors criticize incidents such as her conversion to Christianity and allegedly selecting her race as “White” on a voter registration card in 2001, but then at other times being vocal about her Indian-American identity. Like Ramaswamy, Haley cites her family’s success as immigrants to make a point that systemic racism in America is no longer an issue. Some defend her, saying that to succeed in a White-dominated, Republican system, she had no choice but to sacrifice some aspects of her cultural identity. Critics argue that a flawed system does not excuse politicians from actively supporting it. Near the end of her gubernatorial term, Donald Trump nominated Haley for the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She was sworn in in 2017 and resigned in 2018. Her 2023 presidential run is her latest political venture.
Many considered Nikki Haley during the primary debate to be the voice of reason. She often leaned more moderate on issues where most other candidates tilted towards the extreme. While Haley is against abortion, she was the only candidate that acknowledged how unlikely getting a federal abortion ban through Congress would realistically be. She called for a stop to the demonization of abortion and the punishment of women who may not have any other choice. Haley was the only woman on the stage that night, which undoubtedly contributes to her views. She used this to her advantage, quoting Margaret Thatcher to say, “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.” People speculate that Haley might appeal more to female voters, largely because of the male candidates’ ignorance about how their anti-abortion rhetoric might affect women in tough situations.
Her extensive career in politics and the United Nations also gives her an edge, particularly over newcomers like Vivek Ramaswamy. In fact, the two fought during the debate because of their opposing stances on the Russia-Ukraine war. During their contention, Haley told Ramaswamy, “Under your watch, you would make America less safe. You have no foreign policy experience and it shows.” Despite this, she lags behind in opinion polls compared to her Republican peers.
If either Ramaswamy or Haley are voted as Republican nominee, they will be the first Indian-American candidates to make it past the primaries, and one of the few non-White presidential candidates in American history.
Three months are still left before the Republican primary elections begin. More debates are scheduled to occur in the coming months, and they may help influence the direction of the elections. But for now, it is left to be seen in whose favor Republican voters will be swayed.