Several Indian-American, South Asian candidates on high-stakes ballots as US goes to polls

New York, Nov 4 (PTI) As the US goes to polls on Tuesday, several India-American and South Asian candidates are running for some key positions nationwide, in the first fight at the ballots in the second term of Donald Trump's presidency.

"It takes immense courage to run for office, and these leaders have stepped up to represent their communities and build a better future for this country," said a statement by Indian American Impact, an organisation which empowers South Asian and Indian-American communities through civic partnership and community engagement.

"The best way to support these candidates is to vote and get your friends and family out to vote. Make sure you have a plan to vote this Tuesday," it said.

The organisation said that over the course of the year, it has endorsed 50 South Asian candidates who ran for office this year, a record for it in an odd-numbered election year.

It added that 36 of those candidates will be on ballots nationwide on Tuesday.

Among these, the most prominent and closely watched races will be the election for Virginia Lieutenant Governor, where Ghazala Hashmi, the first Muslim and the first South Asian American to serve in the Virginia Senate, is vying for the post.

As a four-year-old, Hashmi had emigrated with her mother and older brother from India to the US, where they joined her father in Georgia just as he was completing his PhD in international relations and beginning his university teaching career.

First elected to office in November 2019, Hashmi won an upset victory over a Republican incumbent, delivering the majority to Democrats for the first time in years and shocking the political establishment, according to her profile.

In 2024, she was named Chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee, a crucial leadership post for two critical Democratic priorities -- reproductive freedom and public education.

In New York City, all eyes are set on the important mayoral election where Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani is emerging as a front-runner.

Mamdani, 34, born in Uganda and raised in New York City, is a New York State Assemblymember and democratic socialist running for Mayor.

The Democratic nominee will face off against former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent candidate, and the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa, on the ballots.

Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, whose administration has been plagued by scandals, dropped out of the mayoral race in September.  Mamdani has been leading Cuomo in the polls in the run-up to the ballots, with most surveys showing him up by double digits.

Mamdani, the son of renowned Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, a Ugandan author of Indian ancestry, upset Cuomo in the Democratic primary race for New York City mayor and was declared victorious in June this year.    Aftab Pureval is running for Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. Pureval’s Tibetan mother fled Communist Chinese occupation as a child and grew up in a Southern Indian refugee camp, while his father is Punjabi.

Pureval began his political career in 2015 in his race for Hamilton County Clerk of Courts.

Satish Garimella is running for Mayor of Morrisville, North Carolina, and Dini Ajmani is running to be Mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey, where the previous two-term Mayor Ravi Bhalla is now running for New Jersey State Assembly.  Several Indian-American and South Asian candidates are running for City Councils in states like New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Washington state, Georgia, Florida and Pennsylvania.

With most US states having at least one local election, Indian American Impact urged voters to go out and cast their ballots.

“Election Day is Tuesday, and across the country, our communities have the chance to shape the future. Whether you’re in California, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, or Georgia, your vote matters — and your voice can make the difference between progress and setback,” it said. PTI YAS GRS GRS GRS