Luck Stopped A Killing At Our Temple. Our Votes Must Save Our Democracy

By Ajay Jain Bhutoria

On Sunday, October 11, thousands of families gathered at the Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora, Illinois, to celebrate the start of Navaratri. Among them were Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and his family. None of them knew that a gunman in body armor, armed with an AR-style rifle, was allegedly waiting in the parking lot.

According to prosecutors, the 19-year-old suspect, who identifies as a white supremacist, tried to open fire, but his rifle jammed. He later told a co-worker that he planned to return. That co-worker called 911, and police arrested him before he could try again.

A massacre at a Hindu temple was prevented by a mechanical failure and one brave phone call. Luck is not a security policy.

In two weeks, on November 3, Americans will decide who controls Congress and what direction our democracy takes. Indian Americans have the numbers, the motivation, and the geographic reach to help decide that outcome. We must answer hate with our ballots and vote for Democratic candidates who will protect our families, our places of worship, and our democracy.

A community that can tip the balance

Analysts tend to watch traditional swing groups. They should also be watching one of the fastest-growing and most engaged communities in the country.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace estimates that roughly 2.6 million Indian Americans are eligible to vote. And we show up. In the 2026 AAPI Voter Survey by APIAVote and AAPI Data, 92 percent of Indian American registered voters said they plan to vote this November, and 74 percent said they are absolutely certain they will.

Just as important, many of us live in the suburban districts where control of the House will be decided, often by a few thousand votes. In those places, Indian Americans are not a footnote. We can be the margin of victory.

From online hate to real-world violence

The Aurora plot did not come out of nowhere. For years, researchers and advocacy groups have warned about a surge of anti-Indian and anti-Hindu content online: xenophobic caricatures, calls for deportation, and racial slurs aimed at immigrant workers and visa holders. Community leaders told the Associated Press that the Aurora plot was fueled by exactly that kind of hateful rhetoric. Prosecutors say the suspect’s manifesto described people of Indian ancestry, Jews, and Black Americans as “subhumans.”

Aurora is also not an isolated case. Earlier this month, bricks were thrown through the windows of a Hindu temple in Richmond Heights, Ohio, while worshippers were inside. Last year, a Krishna temple in Spanish Fork, Utah, was hit by gunfire.

These attacks come at a time when xenophobia has been normalized in our politics. We need leaders who treat domestic violent extremism as the serious threat it is, fund and release security grants for houses of worship, hold social media platforms accountable, and reject politics that profits from fear of immigrants.

What is at stake

Our community has contributed enormously to this country as doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, teachers, and public servants. According to the Pew Research Center, the median income of Indian American households is about twice the national median. But success has never protected anyone from hate, and it does not help families stuck for decades in the green card backlog.

The 2026 AAPI Voter Survey found that about 66 percent of Indian American voters prefer the Democratic candidate in their House race. But we cannot take that support, or our own political power, for granted. We should use our economic influence, our fundraising networks, and our high turnout to elect Democratic majorities that will protect democratic norms and civil rights, fund hate-crime prevention, and deliver sensible immigration reform, including clearing the green card backlog.

Where we can be the margin of victory

– Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. Dr. Amish Shah, an emergency physician, is the Democratic nominee for this open seat in the Phoenix suburbs, one of the most competitive districts in the country. Turnout in our community could decide the race.
– Metro Atlanta and Gwinnett County, Georgia. Georgia’s fast-diversifying suburbs have large Asian American populations. In close statewide races, including for the U.S. Senate, Indian American voters can help hold the line.
– California. California is home to the nation’s largest Indian American community, more than 900,000 people, and leaders such as Reps. Ro Khanna and Ami Bera. Several competitive House seats here could decide which party controls the House.
– New Jersey and Pennsylvania. New Jersey is home to more than 430,000 Indian Americans, and Pennsylvania is a battleground in every cycle. The large Indian American communities in their suburbs can help decide those races.

Call to action

Our community’s journey in America has always been tied to the promise of pluralism, equal opportunity, and democratic government. We are not just taxpayers or professionals. We are citizens and civic leaders, and our voices help shape the moral direction of this country.

Here is what each of us can do in the next two weeks:

1. Check your registration today, and make a plan to vote early or on November 3.
2. Bring five people with you. Call parents, cousins, neighbors, and first-time voters. Share accurate voting information in your family and community WhatsApp groups.
3. Show up for the candidates who stand with us. Volunteer, phone bank, or knock on doors in a nearby swing district.
4. Talk about Aurora. Make sure every candidate who asks for our vote knows that the safety of our temples, gurdwaras, mosques, churches, and synagogues is not negotiable.

Our temples should be places of prayer, not targets. On November 3, let us turn out in historic numbers, vote for Democratic candidates, and give hate the strongest answer a democracy has: our votes. Let us show that Indian Americans are not just part of America’s political future. We are helping to shape it.

(Bhutoria is based in Fremont, CA. He served as a member of the President Biden’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, and is a gubernatorial appointee to the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists.)