12 Indo- Americans in US Congress poll fray
Tough fight predicted in key Congressional districts
Washington, Sept. 20: A record number of 12 Indian- Americans are in the fray for the November 6 mid- term Congressional elections.
Three among them — Hiral Tipirneni and Anita Malik from Arizona and Pramila Jayapal from Washington State — are women.
The first Indian- American woman to enter the US House of Representatives, Jayapal, is seeking re- election from the seventh Congressional district of Washington State. Her victory is considered to be a cake walk, given her popularity and that she represents a Democratic stronghold.
Along with Jayapal, three other Indian- Americans — Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois, Ro Khanna and Dr Ami Bera from California — are seeking re- elections this year. Bera, who was declared winner after recounting of votes in the last three elections, this time faces a tough opponent, Republican Andrew Grant.
He was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 2012, making him the third ever Indian- American to enter the House after Dalip Singh Saund from 1957 to 1963 and Bobby Jindal in 2004.
In 2016, three Indian-Americans — Krishnamoorthi, Khanna and Jayapal — joined Bera in the House of representatives, which led to the creation of the so called ‘ Samosa Caucus’. This year, Krishnamoorthi is pitted against Jitender Diganvker of the Republican Party in the eight Congressional District of Illinois. Notably both of them were elected unopposed during the primaries. Khanna is pitted against Republican Ron Cohen in the 17th Congressional District of California, which is essentially India- American dominated Silicon Valley. Political pundits expect all four of them to sail through this November.
Indian- Americans are giving a tough fight in some of the key Congressional districts.
Prominent among them being emergency room physician Hiral Tipirneni in the eighth Congressional District of Arizona and former diplomat Sri Preston Kulkarni in the 22nd Congressional District of Texas.