The stage is set for re-election of all four Indian American Democratic lawmakers – Dr Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna and Raja Krishnamoorthi – to the United States House of Representatives, even as the race for the United States presidential elections continued to be a tight one.
According to The New York Times, Bera is currently leading, with over 61% of the votes, Jayapal with 84.8%, Khanna with 74.1%, and Krishnamoorthi with 71.1%.
Dr Hiral Tipirneni was holding a slight lead of over 3 percentage points, securing 50.3% of the votes, against Republican incumbent David Schweikert (49.7%) from the sixth Congressional district of Arizona. If elected, Tipirneni, 52, would be the second ever Indian American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives. Jayapal, 55, was the first ever to be elected in 2016.
Republican Manga Anantatmula lost to Democratic incumbent Gerry Connolly in the 11th Congressional District of Virginia. Nisha Sharma from the Republican Party also lost her maiden Congressional attempt. She was defeated by incumbent Mark DeSaulnier from the Democratic Party by more than 50 percentage points.
The Indian American community has emerged as a force to reckon with for the first time in the history of the US presidential election. According to a survey released last month, 72% of registered Indian American voters were planning on voting for Biden, while 22% said that they will vote for Trump.
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