An unprecedented ‘desi’ wave hit the US general elections as a record number of four Indian-Americans were today elected to the US Congress, while the fifth candidate’s election results have gone for recounting.
Indian-American women put up a good show in the 2016 elections, with Kamala Harris, 51, a two-term attorney general from California, creating history by winning the US Senate seat from the state. Pramila Jayapal, 51, won the Congressional seat from Seattle to enter the House of Representatives, the first Indian-American woman to accomplish this feat.
Jayapal would be joined in the House of Representatives by Raja Krishnamoorthi, who made it to the highest citadel of democracy in their second attempt. Ro Khanna, the democratic candidate from California’s 17th District, defeated his party colleague Mike Honda by nearly19 percentage points. Meanwhile, Democratic Congressman Ami Bera’s election results have gone for recounting. Bera was contesting against Republican Scott Jones for the House of Representatives.