US polls | 9 Indian Americans running for Congress; several for state, local bodies

Nine Indian Americans are running for the US House of Representatives, including the re-election bid by five of them, while another three are having their maiden foray into Congressional politics.

Over three dozen Indian Americans are running for local bodies and state legislation elections across the country reflecting the growing interest among this small ethnic community to be part of the political mainstream.

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“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi comments at various Indian American gatherings motivating and encouraging community members to run for elections at all levels.

Nine running for US House of Representatives

Suhas Subramanyam, 38, is likely to create history by becoming the first Indian American to be elected from Virginia and the East Coast.

Running for the US House of Representatives from the 10th Congressional District of Virginia, a Democratic stronghold, Subramanyam is currently a Virginia State Senator.

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He lives in a district that has a significant Indian American population in a Virginia suburb of Washington DC.

Subramanyam, who previously served as a White House Advisor to President Barack Obama, is a Hindu by faith and is popular among Indian Americans nationwide.

Indian Americans bidding for re-election

A physician by profession, Dr Ami Bera is the senior-most Indian American Congressman representing the sixth Congressional District of California since 2013. Bera, 59, is all set to get a senior leadership position if the Democrats gain a majority in the House of Representatives.

Representing the seventh Congressional District of Washington State, since 2017, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, 59, has emerged as a powerful legislative leader within the Democratic Party. Her re-election is considered to be a foregone conclusion.

So does that of the three other Indian American lawmakers.

They are Raja Krishnamoorthi, representing seventh Congressional District of Illinois since 2017; Ro Khanna representing seventeenth Congressional District of California since 2017, and Shri Thanedar, 69, representing thirteenth Congressional District of Michigan since 2023. All the three are Democratic strongholds.

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After three successful victories in the Arizona State Assembly in 2018, 2020, and 2022, Dr Amish Shah is now running for House of Representatives in Arizona’s First Congressional District. An emergency room physician, Dr Shah is challenging seven-term incumbent Republican David Schweikert .

Republican Dr Prasanth Reddy is running for the House of Representatives from the third Congressional District of Kansas against three-term Democrat Sharice Davids.

Dr Rakesh Mohan is running for the House of Representatives from the third Congressional District of New Jersey. He is from the Republican party. But both Dr Reddy and Dr Mohan have a slim chance of winning this time.

The pioneers

Dalip Singh Saund was the first Indian American elected to the Congress from the 29th Congressional District of California in 1957. He served for three terms.

Decades later, Bobby Jindal was elected to the House of Representatives from Louisiana in 2005. He was elected for two terms, after which he went on to be elected as the Louisiana Governor for two terms.

Largest number running for local offices are in California

Probably the largest number of Indian Americans running for local offices are in the state of California, which sends two members to the House of Representatives – Ro Khanna and Dr Ami Bera – in addition to Vice President Kamala Harris whose mother was from India.

Those include Adlah Chisti who is running for County Supervisor for District 11, Aliya Chisti for City College Board San Francisco, Darshana Patel for State Assembly, Nicole Fernandez for San Mateo City Council, Nithya Raman for Los Angeles City Council, Richa Awasthi for Foster City Council, and Sukhdeep Kaur for Emeryville City Council.

Tara Sreekrishnan is seeking to enter California’s State Assembly from District 26 in Silicon Valley.

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With close to 9,00,000 Indian American residents, California boasts the largest Indian American population in the entire country. Michigan is a presidential battleground, with elections decided by merely 10,000 votes.

Dr Ajay Raman is running for Oakland County Commissioner for District 14; while Anil Kumar and Ranjeev Puri are running for the Michigan State House.

In the fray in other states

Indian Americans are a crucial part of Arizona’s growth and diversity. Priya Sundareshan is running for the State Senate in Arizona and Ravi Shah is running for School Board. In Pennsylvania, Anand Patek, Anna Thomas, and Arvind Venkat are running for State House, while Nikil Saval is seeking to enter the State Senate.

In Illinois, Anusha Thotakura is running for school board and Nabeel Syed for State House.

If elected, Ashwin Ramaswamy would be the youngest-ever elected to the Georgia State Senate. Of late, he has been subject to racial and hate attacks by his opponents.

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In Ohio, Chantel Raghu is running for County Commissioner and Pavan Parikh for County Clerk of Courts, while in Virginia Danny Avula is running for Mayor of Richmond.

In New York, Jeremy Cooney and Manita Sanghvi are running for State Senate while Zohran Mamdani is seeking to enter the State Assembly.

Indian Americans running for local offices in Texas are Ashika Ganguly for City Council, Karthik Soora (State Senate), Nabil Shike (County Constable), Ramesh Premkumar (City Council), Ravi Sandill (Judge), Salman Bhojani (State House), Shekhar Sinha (State House), Sherine Thomas (Judge), Suleman Lalani (State House), and Sumbel Zeb as County Appraisals Court.

Manka Dhingra is running for Attorney General of Washington State while Mona Das is running for Commissioner of Public Lands.

(With agency inputs)