‘Samosa Caucus’ expands on Capitol Hill, numerous Indian-Americans win in state legislatures

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Indian Americans made more headway during the Novembe

r 8 midterm elections, clocking more seats not just on Capitol Hill but in numerous state legislatures around the country.

All four incumbents in the U.S. Congress retained their seats – Ami Bera and Ro Khanna of California, Pramila Jayapal of Washington State, and Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, were re-elected handily.

The ‘Samosa Caucus’ as it has come to be known, was sent back to Capitol Hill with safe and sometimes wide margins of support from constituents.

Dr. Bera, who represents the 6^th District in California won with 55.8 percent of the vote while his Republican opponent Tamika Hamilton received 44.2 percent.

Ro Khanna, representing the 17^th District that covers Silicon Valley, came back with a resounding victory securing nearly 70 percent (69.6) of the vote, to his Republican opponent Ritesh Tandon’s 30.4 percent.

Pramila Jayapal of District 7 in Washington State secured a thumping 84. 3 percent while her opponent Chris Moon bit the dust with just 15.3 percent.

And Raja Krishnamoorthi of the 8^th District of Illinois, came back with more than 56 percent of the vote.

They are joined by a 5^th member, Shri Thanedar of Michigan’s 13^th District who won with more than 70 percent of the vote.

State level

At least 16 Indian-Americans ran and won seats in state legislatures around the country, some of them voted back in and others voted in for their first terms. The results were obtained from Ballotpedia. There were also some judgeships and other offices contested by them (iaimpact.org/endorsed-candidates).

Winners:

Anita Somani (Democrat) was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives from District 11.  She won with more than 59 percent of the vote against Republican opponent Omar Tarazi with 44 percent.

Arvind Venkat, State House, Pennsylvania, won his seat with 55.2 percent of the vote to his Republican opponent Cindy Kirk’s 44.8 percent.

Tarik Khan, running from District 194 for the State House in Pennsylvania, won his seat with a whopping 90.8 percent of the vote.

Farooq Muchal, State House, Georgia, won the race from District 105 with 51.8 percent of the vote.

Jeremy Cooney won back his seat in the New York State Senate with 54 percent of the vote in District 56.

Jenifer Rajkumar, incumbent New York State Assemblywoman retained her seat from District 38.

Kumar Barve, among the first Indian-Americans to be elected to a state legislature back in 1991, was re-elected yet again to the  House of Delegates, Maryland, as part of a three-member slate.

Jay Chaudhuri, North Carolina State Senator from District 15, won back his seat defeating his Republican opponent with 67.3 percent of the vote.

Megan Srinivas won her race to the State House in Iowa with more than 63 percent of the vote from District 30.

Priya Sundareshan, State Senate from District 18 in Arizona, won the race with more than 54 percent of the vote.

Salman Bhojani running for the State House in Texas from District 92, won his election decisively securing 58 percent of the vote.

Sam Singh, a former member of the Michigan State House, ran for State Senate from District 28, secured his victory with 55.7 percent of the vote.

Shri Thanedar, running for the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan’s District 13, won handily with more than 71 percent of the vote.

Nabilah Islam, a Bangladeshi-American running for the State House in Georgia from District 8, won her seat with 52.8 percent of the vote.

Suleman Lalani candidate for State House in Texas from District 76, won his bid with more than 57 percent of the vote.

Nabeela Syed, candidate for the State House, Illinois from District 51, won the race according to news reports.

Manka Dhingra, member of the State Senate, Washington state,  was first elected in 2019. She won on Nov. 8, with 63.2 percent of the vote to her opponent Ryika Hooshangi’s 36.6 percent.

Kevin Olickal, State House, Illinois. Results for this race from Districe 16, show he won with an overwhelming 69.9 percent of the vote compared to Republican opponent Vince Romano’s 30.1 percent.

Those Who Lost

Anna Thomas, candidate for State House, Pennsylvania, lost her race by a margin of less than 1,000 votes to the Republican opponent Joe Emrick from District 137

Om Duggal, running for the State House in Georgia from District 99, lost his bid but secured an impressive 45 percent of the vote.

Rishi Bagga running for State House, Florida from District 35, lost his bid but secured close to 45 percent of the vote.

Sandeep Srivastava, running for the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas District 3, lost his bid.

Padma Kuppa, ran for State Senate from Michigan District 9. The race was called only on Nov. 11, and she lost by a few hundred votes.

In the race for Treasurer of Connecticut, Republican Harry Arora secured more than 45 percent of the vote, but lost to Democrat Erick Russel.

(Story updated as and when results announced until Nov. 14, 2022)