When presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden picked Sen. Kamala D. Harris as his running mate Tuesday, Indian American family WhatsApp groups exploded with joy that one of their own might make history as the first woman vice president.

Indian Americans forwarded the New York Post’s front page calling Harris “President-in-Waiting.” They sent photos of Harris with her sari-clad relatives, along with videos of the senator from California cooking South India’s dish of choice — masala dosa.

Karthick Ramakrishnan, who directs the Asian American Voters Survey, said he expects Harris to help increase the number of votes Biden receives from Indian Americans, especially among independents. Of those Indian Americans who are registered to vote, 46 percent said they thought of themselves as Democrats and 19 percent as Republicans, while 35 percent identified with neither party, according to the post-election National Asian American Survey.

“I definitely sense excitement from people who are donors, and people who have been pretty heavily involved in Democratic Party circles, as well as civic engagement more generally,” said Ramakrishnan, who is also a public policy and political science professor at the University of California at Riverside. “What I am sensing is people embracing this as a historic moment for the community.”

Ramakrishnan argued that while Trump has tried to make inroads with Indian American voters, his positions on health care, gun control, immigration and the environment do not align with those of many Indian American voters.

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