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The Indian-Americans

Indian-Americans Players in the Midterm Elections

November 6 was a memorable day with rain and umbrellas, long lines at the polling booths and then a nail-biting wait for the results of the midterm elections. For Indian-Americans who largely tend to vote Democratic, there was a collective sigh of relief as their party took back the house even as the Republicans maintained – and strengthened – their hold on the Senate. These midterms had a lot of firsts happening, particularly the strong showing of women candidates. Several women of color won their races, including two Muslim women. In fact, in Houston all 19 black women running for judges in a local race won their bids.

2018 was an unprecedented year when Indian-Americans felt compelled to get involved in the political process with over 100 Indian-Americans running for public office. All four Indian-American incumbents in Congress won their re-election bids – Democrat Representatives Ami Bera, Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal and Raja Krishnamoorthi. Josh Kaul was elected Attorney General of Wisconsin, becoming the only Indian-American to serve in statewide office. Four Indian-Americans were also elected to serve in the state legislatures of New York, Illinois, Kentucky and Arizona. About 2 dozen Indian-Americans won their races, showing that they are becoming viable players in the political life of the country. As we go to press, a few races are still too close to call.

At least six of the candidates were first-timers. “We’re particularly proud of the six new state legislators who were elected on Tuesday,” said Raj Goyle, co-founder of Impact. “As a former state representative, I know firsthand that state and local elected officials can have a powerful impact on the lives of their constituents. This is how we build a bench of future national leaders.”
The successful Indian-American candidates included Amish Shah, AZ State legislature, State House; Ram Villivalam, IL, State Legislature, State Senate; Nima Kulkarn, KY State Legislature, State House; Padma Kuppa, MI, State Legislature, State House, Mujtaba Mohammed NC State Legislature, State Senate; Kevin Thomas, NY State Legislature, State Senate; Juhi Mathew, TX local.

Padma Kuppa tweeted “We did it – together we flipped 41! Thanks to all our supporters – the journey was rewarding: meeting and reconnecting with so many neighbors and friends, new and old, and listening to their concerns, talking about our shared values. Proud to have run a clean and positive campaign!”

The four candidates running for Congress – Aftab Pureval U.S.House (OH-01), Sri Preston Kulkarni U.S.House (TX-22), Hiral Tipirneni U.S. House (AZ-08) Anita Malik U.S. House (AZ-06) – did not win their races but as Gautam Raghavan of Impact Fund observed, “They each ran strong, smart, innovative campaigns and, as a result, outperformed recent challengers in their districts. We hope we’ll see them on the ballot again.”
As Indian-Americans continue their political interactions, the Indian-American Impact Project is creating a ‘Brown Book’ containing resumes of talented South Asian-American candidates for staff positions on Capitol Hill as there will be post-election hiring by Congressional offices – and so the story continues. “We are building an institution which will be extraordinarily helpful to future generations of our community,” said Deepak Raj, co-founder of Impact and chair of the Impact Fund.

As the new faces in American democracy get to work in their hard-won posts, Rep Pramila Jayapal noted: “We won yesterday: take it on, celebrate it and let out a breath of air! Today is a new day. Let’s channel this energy and enthusiasm to fight for a better America.”

(This article first ran in CNBCTV18.com as part of my weekly column India in America )