The US went to the polls on Tuesday in midterm elections that will determine who controls Congress for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term, with many Indian-origin candidates in the race for key positions.
At stake in the elections are all 435 seats of the House and 37 seats in the 100-member Senate. Elections are also being held for the post of Governor in 36 states.
Ro Khanna, Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal and Suhas Subramanyam are among Indian-American lawmakers seeking re-election to the US House of Representatives, while fellow Democrats Pia Dandiya and Amish Shah are in competitive races to make their debut as Congresspersons. Indian American Vivek Ramaswamy is locked in a keen contest with his rival and Democratic nominee Amy Acton for Ohio Governor. Here’s a look at how they are performing: Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, son of Kerala immigrants, is currently trailing in the Ohio Governor election. Suhas Subramanyam, who served as an advisor to former US President Barack Obama, has been re-elected as a member of the US House of Representatives. After earning his law degree with honours at Northwestern University, he served as a White House technology policy advisor to President Obama. The trends are not in yet for California, where Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna is seeking another term in the US House of Representatives. He is contesting from California’s 17th Congressional District, which includes parts of Silicon Valley, against Ritesh Tandon, an Indian American entrepreneur. In Washington’s 7th Congressional District, Pramila Jayapal, whose family roots are in Kerala, faces Republican Nirav Sheth, a Gujarat-born former US Marine. The trends are not in yet. Democratic Congressman Ami Bera is in a bid to retain his seat in the US House of Representatives. Born in the US to Gujarati parents who migrated from Rajkot, Bera is contesting from California’s 3rd Congressional District. He was the third Indian-American to be elected to the US Congress. He is a businessman and community advocate who has been living in the Plano-Frisco area for several years. He is challenging a Republican candidate who has represented the constituency for five terms. Pia Dandiya, a former high school principal, is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District. She is the Democratic candidate and is facing Republican Casey Askar. Physician and former State Representative Amish Shah is the Democratic candidate from Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He is contesting against Republican Jay Feely, a former National Football League kicker who has received an endorsement from President Donald Trump. Nithya Raman, an urban planner and member of the Los Angeles City Council, is contesting the Los Angeles mayoral election. She served as co-chair of the Silver Lake Neighbourhood Council’s Homelessness Committee. She also co-founded the SELAH Neighbourhood Homeless Coalition. If she wins, the US’ two largest cities — New York and Los Angeles — will have Indian-origin mayors. New York currently has Zohran Mamdani as mayor.
Ramaswamy, who has received the backing of US President Donald Trump and won the Republican primary in May, is trailing Amy Acton by about 2,00,000 votes. Jayapal has represented the constituency since 2017 and is the first Indian-American woman elected to the US House of Representatives. Pooja Sethi is contesting the Texas House District 47 election as a Democratic candidate. Democratic candidate Sandeep Srivastava is contesting from Texas House District 66. Dandiya, a first-generation American, is currently leading by 11,000 votes. He also contested the 2024 congressional election but narrowly lost to Republican David Schweikert.
An attorney by profession, Sethi has previously worked as the chief of staff in the Texas Legislature. Shah previously served three terms in the Arizona House of Representatives.
Subramanyam was born in Houston to Indian parents and attended college at Tulane University in New Orleans. The 40-year-old won from Virginia’s 10th congressional district, polling over 61 per cent of the vote against Republican Dave Beckwith, who managed to get 36 per cent of the ballots cast.
