Indian-Americans Hiral Tipirneni, Anita Malik and Sanjay Patel — all from the opposition Democratic party — have won their respective primaries to advance to the US Congressional elections in November. While Tipirneni and Malik — both women — are running for the US House of Representatives seats from Arizona, a State which is known for its Republican leanings, Patel is seeking to enter the House from the 8th Congressional district of Florida, a traditional swing State.
Tipirneni won the Democratic primary from the 8th Congressional District of Arizona uncontested, while her party colleague Malik won the party primary in a three-way contest from the 6th Congressional District of Arizona. In November general elections, Malik is pitted against Republican incumbent David Schweikert. Tipirneni, who lost to Republican Debbie Lesko in the Special Elections early this year, is battling against the same opponent.
Patel is challenging Republican incumbent Bill Posey. He won the seat uncontested. Congressional primaries in Florida and Arizona were held on August 31. On Tuesday, the Indian-American Impact Fund announced to endorse Malik. “It’s no surprise that Anita, a tech executive and entrepreneur, ran such a smart and innovative campaign,” said Raj Goyle, co-founder of Impact and a former member of the Kansas House of Representatives. Currently, the US House of Representatives has four Indian-Americans – the largest number so far in the history of the US Congress.
The group is being led by three-term lawmaker Ami Bera, from 7th Congressional District of California. Three others – Raja Krishnamoorthi from 8th Congressional District of Illinois, Pramila Jayapal from 7th Congressional district of Washington State and Ro Khanna from 17th Congressional district of California – are first timers. All four of them – from the Democratic party – have won their respective primaries and are seeking re-election in November polls. Four more Indian-Americans have won their respective Congressional primaries to enter the race for US House of Representatives.
Republican Indian-American Jitender Digankar has challenged Krishnamoorthi in the 8th Congressional district of Illinois. Another Republican Harry Arora has won the party’s primary from the 4th Congressional District of Connecticut. Aftab Pureval from Ohio’s 1st Congressional District has been endorsed by former President Barack Obama, while former American diplomat Sri Preston Kulkarni is running from the 22nd Congressional District of Texas. At the start of the primary season early this year, there were about 20 Indian-Americans in the race for Congress. Indian-American Abhijit Das is seeking the Democratic primary from 3rd Congressional District of Massachusetts.
The US Capitol in Washington, DC. (File Photo)
