Indian American Democrats Score Major Midterm Victories, Winning 28 State Legislative Seats as Nithya Raman Leads in Los Angeles

WASHINGTON–Indian American candidates made significant gains in Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections, with at least 30 winning state legislative seats nationwide, including 28 Democrats, while Indian American lawmakers emerged as potential leaders of legislative chambers in Michigan and Arizona. In Los Angeles, City Councilmember Nithya Raman continued to lead incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in a closely contested mayoral race.

The election results marked a strong showing for Indian American Democrats, who won approximately 85 percent of their 33 decided state legislative contests. Every Indian American state legislative incumbent seeking reelection retained their seat, according to available election returns.

Among the most notable victories was that of Michigan House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri, who won reelection in the state’s 24th House District with approximately 66 percent of the vote.

With Democrats regaining control of the Michigan House of Representatives, Puri is positioned to become the first Indian American and Sikh Speaker of the Michigan House, although his selection still requires approval through the Democratic leadership process.

“The people of Michigan spoke up tonight and said that they’ve had enough, and they delivered a House Democratic majority,” Puri said.

Democrats also regained full control of Michigan’s state government, creating an opportunity to advance their legislative priorities.

In Arizona, Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan secured reelection in the state’s 18th Senate District with approximately 66 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Arizona Secretary of State.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee reported that Democrats had captured both chambers of the Arizona Legislature, giving the party unified control of state government for the first time since the 1960s.

Sundareshan is expected to seek a leadership position in the newly Democratic-controlled Senate. She has indicated plans to run for Senate President, although the position remains subject to a vote by Democratic lawmakers.

“We are confident that we have the trifecta come January,” Sundareshan told The Center Square.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Raman maintained a substantial lead over Bass in the race to lead the nation’s second-largest city.

By Wednesday evening, Raman had received approximately 405,000 votes, representing about 52 percent of the total, compared with Bass’s 379,000 votes, or roughly 48 percent.

With approximately two-thirds of the expected ballots counted, Raman held an advantage of about 27,000 votes. Major news organizations had not yet called the election.

Bass would need to capture approximately 53 percent of the estimated 394,000 remaining votes to overcome Raman’s lead.

The contest shifted after Bass initially held a narrow advantage in early returns before Raman moved ahead as additional ballots were counted.

Another Indian American candidate in Los Angeles, Marissa Roy, was projected to win the City Attorney runoff election with approximately 66 percent of the vote against John McKinney, according to a FOX 11 projection.

Indian American candidates also achieved notable victories in Georgia and Texas.

In Georgia, Democrat Jyot Singh won the state’s 97th House District with approximately 68 percent of the vote, defeating his opponent by about 13,800 votes to 6,500.

Indian American Impact, a political advocacy organization, described Singh as the first Indian American and first Sikh American elected to the Georgia State Legislature.

In Texas, Democrat Pooja Sethi captured the open 47th House District with approximately 63 percent of the vote, receiving about 57,500 votes against her Republican opponent’s 33,300.

Sethi described her election as a historic breakthrough for Indian American and Asian American women in Texas politics.

On X, she wrote that she is “the first Indian American woman and the first Asian American Democratic woman elected to the Texas Legislature”.

Indian American Democrats also helped their party capture several seats previously held by Republicans.

In Illinois, State Representative Nabeela Syed won the 26th Senate District, defeating Republican Darby Hills by approximately 57 percent to 43 percent.

The race was among the most expensive legislative contests in Illinois. Syed raised approximately $3.2 million by October, compared with Hills’ $1.5 million, according to TransparencyUSA.

In New York, Democrat Lisa Kaul defeated Republican Senator Rob Rolison in the 39th Senate District, winning approximately 55 percent of the vote.

In Iowa, Democrat Nikhil Wagle held a narrow lead over Republican Senator Scott Webster in the 47th Senate District. Wagle’s advantage stood at approximately 150 votes out of roughly 32,000 cast, leaving the outcome uncertain.

In Indiana, Democrat Ranjan Rohatgi helped his party gain control of the St. Joseph County Council by winning District B with approximately 57 percent of the vote.

Several established Indian American lawmakers also secured comfortable reelection victories.

In Illinois, Democratic State Senator Ram Villivalam won another term with approximately 73 percent of the vote, while State Representative Kevin Olickal ran unopposed.

Democrat Saba Haider captured Illinois’ open 84th House District with approximately 71 percent of the vote.

North Carolina State Senator Jay Chaudhuri won reelection in the 15th Senate District with approximately 75 percent.

Other Democratic incumbents winning reelection included Arvind Venkat in Pennsylvania with approximately 63 percent, Anita Somani in Ohio with 71 percent, Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox in Connecticut with 65 percent and Jeremy Cooney in New York with 67 percent.

Cooney’s victory secured his fourth term in the New York State Senate.

In Wisconsin, Renuka Mayadev won with approximately 90 percent of the vote.

California Assemblymember Ash Kalra secured reelection with about 73 percent against Republican Himat Singh Bainiwal.

Washington State Senator Manka Dhingra won with approximately 92 percent of the vote, according to King County election figures.

Several Indian American Democratic candidates faced no opposition, including Megan Srinivas in Iowa, Nima Kulkarni in Kentucky, Reuben D’Silva in Nevada, Reena Szczepanski in New Mexico and Vandana Slatter in Washington.

In Vermont, State Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale and newcomer Nikhil Goyal won seats in multimember Senate districts.

Minnesota Democrat Krish Subrahmanian won the state’s 49th Senate District with approximately 63 percent of the vote, while Amar Mukunda secured Maryland’s 39th Senate District without opposition.

Although Democrats dominated the results, two Indian American Republican incumbents also retained their legislative seats.

In Tennessee, Republican Sabi “Doc” Kumar won reelection in the 66th House District with approximately 66 percent of the vote.

In New York, Republican Assemblymember Anil Beephan retained the 105th Assembly District with approximately 54 percent.

Several other contests involving Indian American candidates remained unresolved.

In California, Democrat Darshana Patel led the race for the 76th Assembly District with approximately 59 percent of the vote, although the election had not been called.

In New Hampshire, Manoj Chourasia appeared positioned to win a seat in the Hillsborough-11 multimember legislative district.

Indian American candidates also recorded victories in statewide offices.

Maryland Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller won reelection alongside Democratic Governor Wes Moore, whose ticket received approximately 63 percent of the vote.

In Wisconsin, Attorney General Josh Kaul, whose father immigrated from India, secured a third term with approximately 55 percent.

“In Wisconsin, we are in the midst of generational change with this election,” Kaul said, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.

However, two prominent Indian American Republicans suffered defeats in statewide races.

In Ohio, Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy lost to Democrat Amy Acton, receiving approximately 44 percent of the vote against Acton’s 52 percent.

In New York, Republican Saritha Komatireddy lost her bid for Attorney General to Democratic incumbent Letitia James, securing approximately 38 percent of the vote.

Several Indian American Democratic candidates also lost their legislative races.

They included Harjot Singh in New York’s 2nd Senate District, Sandeep Srivastava in Texas’ 66th House District, Jyoti Mohan in Maryland’s 42A House District and Nisha Lodhavia in Delaware’s 15th Senate District.

Republican candidates Ashok Baddi in Michigan, Ajay Gupta in Illinois, and Vinaya Singh and Himat Singh Bainiwal in California also lost their contests.

In California’s 6th Assembly District, Jagtar Singh received approximately 15 percent of the vote in a race against another Democratic candidate.

Indian American candidates also posted victories in several county and municipal elections.

In Utah, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill won reelection with approximately 66 percent of the vote.

In North Carolina, Mona Singh led the field in the Wake County at-large commission race.

In Texas, Silky Joshi-Malik won a Harris County education board seat with approximately 63 percent.

Oakland City Councilmember Janani Ramachandran and Westchester County Legislator Anant Nambiar ran unopposed, while Rohit Malhotra won a seat on the Fulton County Commission in Georgia.

Other Indian American candidates were less successful in municipal contests.

Jaskirat Sondh finished third in the mayoral race in Rancho Cucamonga, California, while Santosh Sahoo placed third in the Milpitas mayoral election.

Jag Nagendra lost a Folsom City Council race after receiving approximately 40 percent of the vote, while Manisha Pathak trailed in early returns for a Fremont City Council seat.

Overall, 30 of the 41 Indian American state legislative candidates had won their elections, two were leading in races that had not been decided and nine had lost.

Democrats accounted for 28 of the 30 confirmed victories, while Republicans won two of their six contests, both involving incumbents.

Of the 30 winning candidates, eight ran unopposed, and 15 were women.

Illinois recorded the highest number of Indian American state legislative winners, with four, followed by New York with three. Washington and Vermont each recorded two.

The results underscore the expanding participation of Indian Americans in American politics, particularly within the Democratic Party, as candidates gain representation in state legislatures, local governments and statewide offices.

With Puri potentially becoming Michigan House Speaker and Sundareshan seeking leadership of the Arizona Senate, the elections could also elevate Indian American lawmakers to some of the most influential legislative positions in state government.

Meanwhile, the unresolved Los Angeles mayoral election could deliver another significant political milestone if Raman maintains her advantage over Bass as the remaining ballots are counted. (Source: IANS)