Indian-american in key House race
WASHINGTON: Hiral Tipirneni, a member of the Democratic Party, could make history on Tuesday if she wins a special election in Arizona state by becoming the fifth Indian-american in the House of Representatives.
The other four Indian-americans in the House are Ami Bera (California), Ro Khanna (Pennsylvania), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Illinois) and Pramila Jayapal (Washington state). All are Democrats.
If Tipirneni were to win, she would become the second Democrat to win a district that had voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential elections, reinforcing the perception that Republicans are growing disenchanted with their man in the White House.
A loss in the district will be studied for implications for the upcoming mid-term elections scheduled for November.
“This election, like the other specials, likely contains some useful information about what we’re going to see in the upcoming midterms and as well as clues as to how Americans feel about the Trump Era,” conservative news daily The Weekly Standard noted in an article.
Tipirneni is a physician who came to the US aged three years. According to her campaign website, she took to medicine inspired by “a childhood illness”.
This is Tipirneni’s first run for the House and she has the support of the Democratic National Committee. According to a recent poll, she is trailing her Republican rival Debbi Lesko by eight points, but has done well enough to scare Republicans.
“She has been a credible candidate and has worked hard and it will be close,” Shekar Narasimhan, a leading Democratic strategist, said. “We are working hard to make sure she gets to the final line now or in November.”