It's a good thing Rep. Nick Lampson likes Indian food. Over the last two years, the Democrat has attended a score of South Asian events, reaching out to a constituency that may hold the key to his re-election in Texas' District 22, the district that sent Tom DeLay to Washington 11 times.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has already sunk more than $300,000 into the race, knows it will have to fight to hold on to the seat. "It's a tough district," said Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the DCCC. "This is Tom DeLay's district. He drew it in a way that he expected to protect himself for a long time."

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But Democrats see hope in the area's changing demographics: The 22nd now boasts a much more diverse constituency than it did when DeLay was first elected. White voters still make up a majority, at 60 percent, but there are also sizable communities of Latinos, African-Americans and, more recently, South Asians. Fort Bend County, in the southwest suburbs of Houston, boasts the state's highest percentage of Asian residents, according to the Almanac of American Politics.

South Asians now make up between 4 percent and 5 percent of the district's population, attracting the attention of Democrats in part because of their perceived tendency to register in high numbers. Unlike black and Latino voters, South Asians don't have a long history with either party. But many are moving toward the Democrats, in part because of objections to the GOP's position on immigration, something that the party hopes will be enough to put Lampson over the top.

And there's more than just votes to be had. With its strong social network, the affluent South Asian community is natural for a political fundraising. "The social network that binds us is our biggest strength politically," said Mustafa Tameez, a Pakistani-American political consultant in Houston.

In recent years, Democrats have begun reaching out to such voters, using direct mail campaigns and door-to-door field programs in their native languages. Lampson himself recently hired an Indian-American district director in his congressional office, a move that did not go unnoticed by South Asians.

Many South Asians first came to Texas as graduate students after the Immigration and Naturalization Act in 1965 eliminated quotas on nationalities. By the 1970s, they had begun to organize community groups to promote religious worship and cultural events, but they mostly stayed out of the political limelight. It wasn't until 2004 that two community leaders, A.J. Durrani and Arif Gafur, urged their fellow South Asians to run for office by starting at the lowest rung -- the local precinct chair. Organizations like the Indo-American Forum of Fort Bend and the Coalition of New American Communities encouraged political participation.

As the community has become more politically involved, it has been courted by Republicans as well as Democrats: Lampson's Republican opponent, Pete Olson, was chief of staff for Sen. John Cornyn (R), one of India's staunchest allies in Congress and the founder of the U.S. Senate India Caucus. As one Democratic fundraiser admitted, "There are a lot of people I know today in the Houston area who would write a check to John Cornyn on the one hand and Nick Lampson on the other hand."

But Olson has chosen to forgo targeted community outreach, saying it does not adhere to his campaign philosophy of focusing on the issues and transcending ethnic differences. To be sure, Olson may not need the South Asian community as much as his opponent does; Lampson won in 2006 largely because the Republicans, in disarray over DeLay's resignation, were only able to field a write-in candidate against him.

District 22 remains a conservative bastion, going for President Bush by 34 percentage points in 2000 and by 28 points four years later. "This is a predominantly Republican district," said Rick Miller, chairman of the Fort Bend County Republicans. "We have a lot of work to do, but in the end we have a Republican base that will come out." As Olson said, "If our people turn up, we will win."

But Lampson and the Democrats are hoping to prove them wrong. "The suburbs don't look like they did two decades ago," Tameez said.