Rising Indian-origin politicians leave a mark in US poll battles
While Zohran Mamdani became New York’s first Indian origin Mayor, the Hyderabad-born Senator Ghazala Hashmi was elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, becoming the first Muslim American woman to be elected to statewide office anywhere in the US
Indian-Americans had a big night not just in New York, but also the rest of the US as a slate of rising political figures won their high-profile electoral races.
While Zohran Mamdani became New York’s first Indian origin Mayor, the Hyderabad-born Senator Ghazala Hashmi was elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, becoming the first Muslim American woman to be elected to statewide office anywhere in the US. Meanwhile, Aftab Pureval saw off a challenge from U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s half brother Cory Bowman to win re-election as mayor of Cincinnati in Ohio.
“Cincinnati, it’s the honor of my life to serve as your mayor. I’m humbled, and I’m ready, to continue our work for the next four years,” said Pureval on X after winning his re-election campaign.
A slate of Indian-American candidates, mostly from the Democratic Party, also won state and local level offices across the country.
On election day, dozens of Indian-American candidates ran for offices ranging from county supervisor to state senator. A number of them running in New Jersey and Virginia - both states with a sizable Indian-American population - found electoral success. Balvir Singh, the first Sikh elected to New Jersey’s State House, was comfortably re-elected to another term in office. Hoboken mayor Ravinder Bhalla will join Singh in the state’s assembly after winning his election against Republican challengers, including Indian-American candidate Kaushal Patel.
“Grateful to the voters of the 32nd District for entrusting me and Katie Brennan with representing you in Trenton, and looking forward to continuing to serve the great people of Hoboken & Jersey City as an Assemblyman,” Bhalla said on X.
Meanwhile, former Obama administration official JJ Singh won re-election to Virginia’s State House while Senator Kannan Srinivasan kept his seat in the state senate. Indian-American candidates also won offices at the local level, including in states like South Carolina.
However, it was not a night of unmitigated success for Indian Americans. Former US Treasury official Dini Ajwani was unable to win election as mayor of Hoboken in New Jersey while Karen Bhatia lost her race to become a county legislator in New York.
For America’s 4.9 million-strong Indian-American community, the results may also come as welcome news amid a sharp uptick in racial rhetoric against the diaspora in some corners of US politics. The previous election cycle in 2024 saw Virginia State Senator Suhas Subramanyam win election to the United States House of Representative, which increased the number of Indian-American representatives in the House to 6. Prior to that in 2022, Aruna Miller became the only Indian-origin Lieutenant Governor in the US when she won election in Maryland. She will now be joined by Ghazala Hashmi, who will serve in that role in Virginia.
Tuesday night’s results also open the way for a set of high-profile political races involving Indian-Americans across the country over the next year.
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is currently the frontrunner to win the Republican party’s nomination to become governor of Ohio. Meanwhile, Dr. Nirav Shah has announced his candidacy to become the Democratic nominee for governor of Maine. Both elections will play out over the next year. Only two Indian-origin politicians have served as governors of US states in the past : Bobby Jindal in Louisiana and Nikki Haley in South Carolina.
Meanwhile, the crucial midterm elections next year will see incumbent US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi run to become only the second Indian-origin Senator in American history from the state of Illinois.
