Highlights
- Amish Shah wins Arizona’s 1st District, becoming the first Indian American to represent the state in Congress
- Pia Dandiya wins Florida’s newly drawn 22nd District on debut
- Ami Bera, Ro Khanna, Suhas Subramanyam and Pramila Jayapal re-elected
- Vivek Ramaswamy loses Ohio governor’s race
- Pooja Sethi becomes the first Indian-American and Hindu in the Texas legislature
INDIAN AMERICAN physician Amish Shah has become the first member of the community to represent Arizona in the US Congress. He flipped a Republican-held seat and helped the Samosa Caucus regain its strength on Capitol Hill.
Shah, 48, claimed victory in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District on Wednesday (4). He defeated Republican Jay Feely, a former National Football League player endorsed by president Donald Trump. Shah won 52.49 per cent of the vote to Feely’s 45.45 per cent.
His win, along with Pia Dandiya’s in Florida, takes the number of Indian Americans in the House to six. The informal group had been set to shrink to four after Congressman Shri Thanedar lost his Democratic primary in Michigan and Raja Krishnamoorthi made an unsuccessful bid for the Senate from Illinois.
Democrats have won control of both the House and the Senate. The new Congress will be sworn in on January 3, 2027.
From the NFL sidelines to opposite sides
Shah and Feely share a history. Shah was the NFL physician who provided emergency care to the New York Jets, the team Feely played for as kicker.
“Arizona, it’s the honour of a lifetime to be your next congressman,” Shah posted on X.
He commended Feely on “a hard-fought race”. He pledged to represent every voter in the district, “whether or not you voted for me”. He said he would work on lowering costs, expanding health care coverage, solving the state’s water crisis and growing the economy.
Chintan Patel, executive director of Indian American Impact, said Shah had knocked on more than 28,000 doors. “As an emergency room doctor, he has seen firsthand what unaffordable care does to families, and he ran to lower those costs,” Patel said.
Shah was born in Chicago to Gujarati parents who immigrated to the US in the 1960s. His father is Jain, and his mother is Hindu. He studied at Northwestern University and its medical school.
He then earned a Master’s in Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, on a full merit scholarship. He trained in emergency medicine at New York City’s busiest Level-1 trauma centre. He has served three terms in the Arizona House of Representatives.
Dandiya’s strong debut
Dandiya, 39, won Florida’s newly carved-out 22nd District, described as a Republican stronghold. She defeated Republican Casey Askar with 51.9 per cent of the vote.
Pia DandiyaPhoto: X
She was born and raised in Palm Beach County. She began her career as a teacher and later became a high school principal in Harlem, New York.
Bera, 61, won an eighth term from California’s 3rd District, defeating Republican Robb Tucker. He is the longest-serving Indian American in Congress and sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Khanna, 50, was re-elected from California’s 17th District in Silicon Valley and begins his sixth term in January.
Subramanyam, 40, a former adviser to Barack Obama, won a second term from Virginia’s 10th District. He took over 61 per cent of the vote against Republican Dave Beckwith.
Jayapal secured a sixth term from Washington’s 7th District. Last month, her criticism of India’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls drew a public rebuke from India’s ambassador to the US.
A mixed night beyond the House
In Maryland, Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, a Democrat, secured another term.
Vivek Ramaswamy, the Trump-backed son of immigrants from Kerala, lost Ohio’s governor’s race to Democrat Amy Acton.
Republican Mahesh Ganorkar lost North Carolina’s 4th District to Democratic incumbent Valerie Foushee.
In Texas, Democrat Pooja Sethi defeated Republican Jennifer Mushtaler in House District 47. She becomes the first Indian American and Hindu elected to the state legislature. Fellow Democrat Sandeep Srivastava lost District 66 to Republican Matt Shaheen.
The Indian American community numbers over five million and is the second-largest Asian-origin population in the US.
