Indian-American Pia Dandiya has won Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, defeating the Republican businessman Casey Askar. The 39-year-old democrat has now become the second Indian-American woman elected to the US House of Representatives, after Pramila Jayapal. A former high school principal, Dandiya bagged 51.9 per cent of the votes.
“Teaching those underprivileged kids, I learnt what truly separates people from each other is not their potential, but their circumstances,” she said.
Dandiya studied government at Harvard and earned a master’s in education from Boston University. She taught with Teach For America in Boston and, at 28, became the founding principal of Democracy Prep Endurance High School in Harlem, where about 86 per cent of students were low-income, and every graduate was admitted to college. She was a White House Fellow in 2020, serving on the White House Domestic Policy Council and at the US Department of Education, and later led public-sector initiatives at Apple. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker appointed her to the state’s P-20 Council. No Going Back PAC, a super PAC funded by MAGA Inc., reported spending about $6.5 million against her by October 24, according to FEC filings. House Majority PAC, the main Democratic super PAC for House races, spent about $7.9 million against Askar.
Earlier reporting noted: “Florida’s 22nd District was one of the most competitive districts for Democrats, and Pia just turned it blue,” Chintan Patel, Executive Director, Indian American Impact, said in a statement. Earlier reporting noted: “Indian American Impact has been proud to support her from the beginning, and we congratulate her on her victory tonight,” he said. Dandiya is a first-generation American who has dedicated her career to strengthening communities as a high school principal, policy leader and technology innovator, according to her campaign website.
Earlier reporting noted: Ms.
