indica Washington Bureau
All the four Indian-American Democrat members of the House of Representatives were re-elected and a member of the community won the Attorney General’s position in Wisconsin state as over dozen others picked up more seats in the State assemblies in mid-term elections held on Tuesday.
Raja Krishnamoorthi, who represents a constituency near Chicago in Illinois, won about 66 percent of the votes to defeat Indian-American Republican J.D. Diganvker of the Republican Party.
The other House candidates re-elected were Pramila Jayapal from Washington State, and Ro Khanna and Ami Bera from California.
Together with the only Senator of Indian descent, Kamala Harris, they make up what they themselves call “The Samosa Caucus.”
Harris won from California in 2016 did not face a re-election as she has a six-year term.
Three-term lawmaker Dr Ami Bera was re-elected for a record fourth consecutive time from the seventh Congressional District of California.
Indian-American Ro Khanna defeated Ron Cohen of the Republican party with a massive 44 percentage point in the 17th Congressional District of California.
“Tonight, was a great night for our campaign and for Democrats across the country. I’m grateful to the voters of #CA17 for giving me the opportunity to continue to represent you in Congress. This has been the honor of my life,” Khanna said.
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, the only Indian-American woman lawmaker in the House of Representatives, defeated her GOP rival Craig Keller by a massive 66 percentage points.
“The American people voted to put the Democrats back in control of the US House of Representatives. Now, we are primed to restore the balance of power between the branches of government and push back even more strongly against the Trump administration’s deeply destructive policies,” Jayapal said.
In Wisconsin State, Democratic Josh Kaul created history by becoming the first Indian-American to win the race for Attorney General by defeating incumbent Brad Schimel of the Republican Party.
Kaul is the fourth Indian-American to win a state-wide election, which sets the stage for him to run for other higher offices.
The first was Piyush Bobby Jindal, elected Louisiana governor in 2007 who was followed by Nikki Haley, elected South Carolina governor in 2010; both are Republicans. The third is Harris.
Democratic Nima Kulkarni defeated Joshua Neubert from the GOP to make her maiden entry into the Kentucky Assembly from State District 40.
Amish Shah made his maiden entry into the Arizona Assembly from State Legislature District 24.
Mujtaba Mohammed entered the North Carolina State Senate from the Senate District 38.
Incumbent Jay Chaudhuri was re-elected to North Carolina Senate from the State Senate District 15.
However, none of the dozen other Indian Americans running for the Congress could win their races.