Monday, December 22, 2025
ADVT 
International

'Samosa Caucus' Fails To Increase Its Strength In US Midterm Elections

Darpan News Desk IANS, 07 Nov, 2018 12:49 PM
    The so-called Samosa Caucus - an informal group of the Indian-Americans in the US Congress - failed to increase its strength, even as its all four incumbent members were most likely to be re-elected to the House of Representatives in the highly polarised midterm elections held Tuesday.
     
     
    None of the more than half a dozen new Indian American candidates, many of whom caught national attention by giving a tough fight to their opponents and outraising them in the fund raisers, could make it to the House of Representatives, which is equivalent to Lok Sabha in the Indian parliament.
     
     
    However, Indian-Americans picked up more seats in the state assemblies. The community sent its member Ram Villivalam for the first time to the Illinois Senate and also elected a Muslim Indian-American Mujtaba Mohammed to the North Carolina State Senate.
     
     
    Chicago-born Ram Villivalam, elected unopposed, became the first Asian-American State Senator and the first South Asian-American member of Illinois General Assembly ever.
     
     
    For the first time, more than 100 Indian-Americans had entered the race in this mid-term elections, of which over 50 were on the ballot on Tuesday.
     
     
    Among them 12, including four incumbents, were running for the House and one for the Senate - a record in itself.
     
     
    In the eighth Congressional District of Illinois, Raja Krishnamoorthi defeated his Republican Indian-American rival Jitender Diganvker. Mr Krishnamoorthi would serve second term in the House of Representatives.
     
     
    Pramila Jayapal, the first Indian American to be elected to the House of Representatives in 2016, registered her second consecutive win from the seventh Congressional District of Washington State. In little less than two years, she has emerged nationally as the champion of immigrants, workers and human rights.
     
     
    Ro Khanna is expected to easily sail through the race for the House from the 17th Congressional District of California as he took an impressive lead over his GOP rival Ron Cohen. He was elected for the first time in 2016.
     
     
    Three-term Congressman Ami Bera, the senior-most among lawmakers in the Samosa Caucus, had taken a lead of about 2,500 votes over his Republican rival Andrew Grant, with over 96 per cent of the votes being counted in the seventh Congressional District of California.
     
     
    Notably, his previous three electoral victories came only after recounting of votes which took several weeks before the results were finally declared.
     
     
    Indian-American of Tibetan descent Aftab Pureval, 35, lost to GOP incumbent Steve Chabot. He was the first Democrat to get elected as the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts in more than 100 years.
     
     
    Indian-American woman Anita Malik lost to her Republican incumbent in the sixth District of Arizona, while Hiral Tipirneni was trailing behind GOP rival Debbie Lesko in the early tabulations.
     
     
     
    Former state department diplomat Sri Preston Kulkarni lost to his GOP incumbent Pete Olson from the 22nd Congressional District of Texas.
     
     
    A five-time incumbent, Rep Olson defeated his Indian-American Democratic challenger in the most heated 22nd Congressional District that the opposition had hoped to flip due to a large Asian-American population.
     
     
     
    The 40-year-old relied heavily on his ability to connect with the district's diverse population to give Democrats hope that he could pull off an upset in the district. About 20 per cent of the population in the district is of Asian heritage - more than any other district in Texas.
     
     
    Sanjay Patel, who runs a successful consulting business, lost to Republican Congressman Bill Posey, who has been winning the eighth Congressional District of Florida continuously since 2009.
     
     
    In the first Congressional District of Arkansas, Democratic Chintan Desai lost to Republican incumbent Rick Crawford, while Republican Harry Arora lost to incumbent Jim Himes in the fourth Congressional District of Connecticut.
     
     
    Successful entrepreneur Shiva Ayyadurai, who fought the Massachusetts Senate race as an independent, came a distant third. Democratic leader Elizabeth Warren registered a comprehensive win over her Republican rival Geoff Diehl to re-enter the US Senate.
     
     
    Democratic Nima Kulkarni defeated Joshua Neubert from the GOP to make her maiden entry into the Kentucky Assembly from State District 40. A practicing and recognised lawyer, she owns Indus Law Firm specialising in immigration, employment and business law.
     
     
    Mujtaba Mohammed entered the North Carolina State Senate from the Senate District 38. A former staff attorney at the Council for Children's Rights and assistant public defender, Mr Mohammed defeated Richard Rivette.
     
     
    Incumbent Jay Chaudhuri, an accomplished entrepreneur, was re-elected to North Carolina Senate from the State Senate District 15.
     
     
    Republican Niraj Atani, 27, registered his third consecutive electoral victory from Ohio House 42nd District. He is the youngest Indian-American elected official in the US. He is also the second Indian-American state elected official in Ohio history, and the first Indian-American Republican.
     
     
    "Representing the community in which I was born and raised is an incredible honour. I work hard every day to make it achievable for all Ohioans to have the opportunity to make their American Dream a reality," Mr Atani said in a statement.
     
     
    In Washington State, Manka Dhingra and Vandana Slatter were re-elected for the State Senate. Among others re-elected at the State level are Sabi Kumar in Tennessee and Ash Kalra (California).

    MORE International ARTICLES

    VIDEO: Big Brawl At Greenwood Gurudwara In Indianapolis, 4 People Injured

    VIDEO: Big Brawl At Greenwood Gurudwara In Indianapolis, 4 People Injured
    Police And Medics Responded On Monday To A Verbal And Physical Fight Involving Nearly 150 People At The Gurdwara Sikh Temple In The City Just South Of Indianapolis.

    VIDEO: Big Brawl At Greenwood Gurudwara In Indianapolis, 4 People Injured

    Indian-Origin Family Of 5 Killed In South Africa Arson Incident, Shouts Of 'Allah' Heard

    Indian-Origin Family Of 5 Killed In South Africa Arson Incident, Shouts Of 'Allah' Heard
    Aziz Manjra who settled in South Africa 25 years ago, was found dead along with his South African wife Gori Bibi and their three children - Zubina, Mairoonisa and Muhammad Rizwan.

    Indian-Origin Family Of 5 Killed In South Africa Arson Incident, Shouts Of 'Allah' Heard

    Indian-American Entrepreneur Among 6 Dead In Arizona Plane Crash

    Indian-American Entrepreneur Among 6 Dead In Arizona Plane Crash
    An Indian-American entrepreneur was among six people killed when a small plane crashed on a golf course in a suburb of Phoenix in Arizona shortly after taking off from a nearby airport, authorities said today.

    Indian-American Entrepreneur Among 6 Dead In Arizona Plane Crash

    American Man Indicted In Hit-And-Run Death Of Indian-Origin Student Taranjit Parmar

    American Man Indicted In Hit-And-Run Death Of Indian-Origin Student Taranjit Parmar
    An American man has been indicted for killing an 18-year-old Indian-origin student in November last year when he dragged her with his truck and ran her over while fleeing the scene of a minor crash.

    American Man Indicted In Hit-And-Run Death Of Indian-Origin Student Taranjit Parmar

    US To Review 3,500 Indian Products Getting Duty-Free Access

    US To Review 3,500 Indian Products Getting Duty-Free Access
    The US has decided to review India’s eligibility to enjoy duty-free access for certain products in the American market under a tax benefit scheme.

    US To Review 3,500 Indian Products Getting Duty-Free Access

    Two Indian Women Held In Nepal With 92kg Marijuana

    Two Indian Women Held In Nepal With 92kg Marijuana
    Nepali Police have arrested two Indian women here in possession of 92 kg of marijuana.

    Two Indian Women Held In Nepal With 92kg Marijuana