Usha Vance is the 4th person of South Asian descent to be part of the 2024 presidential campaign. Why that matters

Asian American political activists hope the increase in representation will correspond with a push to connect with a voting bloc that has long been overlooked.

Shalabh “Shalli” Kumar was filled with pride Monday night as Donald Trump made his highly anticipated announcement of who would be his running mate in the 2024 election. But it wasn’t Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s name alone that elicited the reaction for the founder of the Republican Hindu Coalition and the chair of the Hindu and Indian Coalition of the Republican National Committee. It was Vance’s wife, Usha, a 38-year-old Yale graduate and the daughter of Indian immigrants. “Hindus have come a long way,” Kumar said, noting the growth of their population and political power since he moved to the United States in the late ‘60s. “It’s about time,” he said, adding the Vances “are going to represent a new generation of Americans.” The 2024 presidential campaign has seen three politicians of South Asian descent vying for the White House: Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy both competed during the Republican primaries, while Vice President Kamala Harris is running for a second term with President Joe Biden. On Tuesday night, both Haley and Ramaswamy are expected to throw their support behind the Trump-Vance ticket during prime-time speeches at the Republican National Convention.