Indian-American donors give Republicans 4:1 funding edge over Democrats ahead of US midterms

Indian-American business leaders and entrepreneurs have donated over $15.8 million to Republican Party-linked political action committees and funds since 2025, giving Donald Trump’s party a roughly 4:1 fundraising advantage over Democrats among prominent donors ahead of the November 3 US midterm elections, an HT analysis of Federal Election Commission data shows.

Much of the Republicans’ fundraising advantage comes from a handful of wealthy Indian-American donors, particularly those in the technology industry. Venture capitalist Asha Jadeja Motwani, who has donated an estimated $5.9 million to Trump-affiliated political action committee MAGA Inc and the Republican National Committee (RNC) since 2025, emerged as the party’s biggest Indian-American donor. Michelle D’Souza, an entrepreneur who grew up in Goa and heads IT firm Unified Business Technologies, contributed $4 million to MAGA Inc in October 2025, followed by more than $400,000 to the RNC in 2025 and 2026.

Other major Republican donors include Palantir chief technology officer Shyam Sankar, who contributed about $1.9 million to Republican political action committees in 2025 and 2026. Sankar, a newly minted billionaire, was reportedly considered by the Trump administration for a senior Pentagon role. Orthopaedic surgeon Anjani Sinha, who was nominated by Trump as US ambassador to Singapore in March 2025, donated $1 million to MAGA Inc the previous month. Retired medical professional Krishna Tripuraneni also contributed $1 million to the committee. Tripuraneni, who pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return, is seeking a presidential pardon, HT reported earlier this year.

Florida businessman Ramalinga Mantena, who made headlines in India last year over his daughter’s lavish wedding in Udaipur, donated $886,000 to Republican causes, in addition to a substantial contribution to Trump’s inaugural ball. Donations from billionaire sports team owner Vivek Ranadive, technology entrepreneur Vipul Prakash and Nvidia vice-president Sundeep Singh Madra added a further $750,000 to the Republicans’ election war chest.

Democratic donors and fundraising

The Democrats, meanwhile, have attracted fewer big-money donors from the Indian-American community. Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla contributed about $2.09 million to Democratic causes in 2025 and 2026, with much of the funding directed towards the Senate Majority PAC, which aims to help the party regain control of the upper chamber. Khosla’s daughter, writer and brand strategist Anu Khosla, donated more than $250,000 to Democratic and progressive groups during the same period, while veteran Democratic donor and investment adviser Shekar Narasimhan contributed about $309,400. The Democratic-aligned Impact Fund also raised more than $1 million from prominent Indian-American donors, including Silicon Valley-based investor Sumir Chadha.

Shifts in political contributions

The fundraising gap reflects a sharp increase in contributions to Trump-aligned groups by some prominent Indian-American donors since 2025. Motwani, for instance, donated $300,000 to a joint fundraising committee supporting Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and the RNC before increasing her contributions roughly 18-fold in 2025. Sankar, meanwhile, gave less than $100,000 to Republican causes during the 2023-24 election cycle before contributing about $1.9 million in 2025 and 2026. Motwani said her increased funding was driven by a desire to help Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress in the November midterm elections.

“I want the Republicans to maintain a major majority in the House and the Senate, so contributing to President Trump’s war chest is an important step towards funding the right candidates and their campaigns,” Motwani told HT.

HT’s analysis also found that some prominent Indian-American donors backing Republicans were previously major supporters of the Democratic Party. Motwani, for instance, supported Barack Obama in 2012, Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020 before becoming one of the community’s biggest donors to Trump. Ranadive, who contributed nearly $100,000 to Kamala Harris and the Democratic National Committee in the 2024 election cycle, donated $250,000 to Republican causes in 2025. Mantena, a major Trump supporter in 2020 and 2024, had also backed Obama in 2012.

Motwani attributed her shift to a loss of faith in the Democratic Party, alleging that it had allowed undocumented migrants to enter the country and obtain documents that could be used to vote. “I lost trust in the Democratic Party after I discovered that they had opened the borders to import voters in swing states,” she told HT, making claims about election fraud. Motwani said she intended to continue backing Republican candidates in 2026 and 2028.

Donor patterns and community opinion

The funding gap also highlights how wealthy Indian-American donors are increasingly favouring Republicans, even as Democrats retain support among smaller contributors. “Trump is soaking up the money among big Indian-American donors. The people giving less than $1,000 are Democrats now. The people giving more than half a million dollars are Republicans,” Narasimhan told HT. However, he said Democratic committees had seen a “big uptick” in small donors contributing $25 to $50 a month, describing it as evidence of a growing grassroots movement. The trend, he added, was difficult to capture fully through Federal Election Commission records, which do not always convey the scale of small-donor mobilisation.

The Republicans’ fundraising advantage among wealthy Indian-Americans comes even as opinion within the community remains divided over Trump’s handling of relations with India. One Indian-American active in the Republican Party told HT, on condition of anonymity, that concerns over online attacks against Indians could erode support for Trump and his party.

Prospects for Democrats

Democrats, meanwhile, believe tensions in US-India relations, visa difficulties and anti-immigration sentiment could win back voters who supported Trump in 2024. “Many of those who once supported Trump are now returning to the Democratic side,” Democratic fundraiser and organiser Ajay Bhutoria told HT, pointing to recent elections in New Jersey, Virginia and New York.