Indian Americans consolidate political power ahead of the 2024 elections with wins from state legislatures to school boards
A desi wave swept in at least 24 Indian Americans in seven states from state legislatures to city councils to school boards in the Nov. 7 poll consolidating their political power before the crucial 2024 elections.
A few races remained too close to call, while there were at least six losers even as leading political community organization Indian American Impact claimed 60% of its endorsed candidates.
READ: Six Indian Americans win key elections in four states (November 8, 2023)
Indian Americans have come a long way in just a decade from 2013 when the US House had just one Indian American representative and fewer than 10 were serving in state legislatures. Now besides the first woman vice president of Indian descent, there are five US lawmakers and scores in elective offices across the nation.
Here is a list of winners, losers and undecided in the 2023 races:
Winners
Connecticut
Arunan Arulampalam, Democrat, Mayor of Hartford, Connecticut.
Arulampalam, 38, who immigrated from Zimbabwe, is CEO of the nonprofit Hartford Land Bank.
New Jersey
Vin Gopal, Democrat, State Senator, NJ LD-11.
Gopal, 38, who won a third term is New Jersey’s youngest and the first South-Asian American senator.
Raj Mukherji, State Senator, NJ -32.
Mukherji, 32, was first elected to the state assembly in 2013. Before that, he was deputy mayor of Jersey City and chairman of the Jersey City Housing Authority, the youngest in city history
Balvir Singh, Democrat, County Commissioner, Burlington County, NJ.
Balvir Singh, a maths teacher, who was the first Asian American and the first Sikh elected to a countywide office in New Jersey in 2017, retained the seat.
Iqleen K. Virdi, Marlboro Township City Council, New Jersey.
Virdi, chairwoman and CEO of KIV Investments Group of Companies, is the first Sikh woman elected to Marlboro Township City Council.
Ajay V. Patil, Democrat, Edison Township Council, NJ
Sivaraman “Ram” Anbarasan, Franklin Township Council, NJ
Anbarasan, the incumbent deputy mayor, retained his seat.
New York
Minita Sanghvi, City Council, Saratoga Springs, NY
An LGBTQ woman of color and a business management professor, Sanghvi ran unopposed for a second two-year term as Saratoga Springs Finance Commissioner.
Vikram Vilkhu, Democrat, Town Justice, Brighton, NY
Vilkhu, currently a Partner at law firm Relin, Goldstein & Crane, became the first Indian American judge to be elected to a trial court in New York State.
Annie Gomez, School Board, Ossining, New York
North Carolina
Satish Garimella, Morrisville Town Council At-Large seat
Garimella, who was raised in Mumbai, India, won a third term. Approximately 46 percent of Morrisville’s nearly 32,000 residents are of Indian American descent, while 35 percent are white, and 10 percent are African American.
Ohio
Priya Tamilarasan, Democrat, City Attorney Gahanna, OH
Tamilarasan, the daughter of immigrants from south India, became the first woman and the first person of color to hold the City Attorney’s office.
Pennsylvania
Neil Makhija, County Commissioner, Montgomery County, PA
Makhija, 37, an attorney, educator, and civic leader, is the first-ever Indian-American to serve on a county’s board of commissioners.
Nalini Krishnankutty, Democrat, City Council, State College Borough, PA
A first-generation immigrant from Kerala, India and engineer turned writer, educator and speaker, she was appointed to the council in June 2022 to fill the unexpired term of Richard Biever.
K.S. Bhaskar, Democrat, Board of Supervisors, Tredyffrin Township, PA, wins a second term.
Pooja Chanda, School Board, Methacton SD, PA
Sagar Sharma, School Board, Upper Providence, PA
Anisha Shah, School Board, North Allegheny, PA
Saji Mathew, Democrat, Lower Moreland School Board, PA
Texas
Abdul Khabeer, City Council Irving, Texas
Virginia
Suhas Subramanyam, State Senator, VA SD-32
Subramanyam, a delegate serving the 87th district of Virginia was a tech advisor in the Obama White House. He also served on Capitol Hill as a health care and veterans policy aide.
Saddam Salim, State Senator, VA SD-37.
Ghazala Hashmi, State Senator, VA SD-10.
Hyderabad-born Hashmi was re-elected to the State Senate for a third consecutive term. She was the first-ever Indian American woman and a Muslim to be elected to the Virginia State legislature.
Kannan Srinivasan, Democrat, State House, VA HD-26.
Srinivasan, who immigrated from India in 1993, serves as vice chair of the Virginia State Medicaid Board, and on the Loudoun Economic Development Advisory Commission.
Seema Dixit, School Board, Fairfax County, VA
Undecided
New York
Naveen Havannavar, Democrat, Pittsford Town Council, NY. He overcame a 7-vote deficit and now holds a lead of 4,242 over incumbent Republican Kate Bohne Munzinger.
North Carolina
Sarika Bansal, Cary Town Council, NC, leading by 67 votes over Republican Rachel Jordan in a runoff.
Renuka Soll, Chapel Hill Town Council, NC, trailing by 16 votes behind Elizabeth Sharp
Losers
Florida
Rishi Bagga, a Democrat, lost in the special Democratic primary for the Florida House of Representatives special election.
Pennsylvania
Ashwini Udgaonkar lost the Marple Township Commissioner race from Ward 5 in Delaware County to Republican George Downs.
Virginia
Puja Khanna lost her bid for Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Dulles district, VA to Republican Matthew F. Letourneau.
Sri S. Amudhanar lost her bid for Commissioner of Revenue in Loudoun County to Robert S. “Bob” Wertz Jr.
Ram Venkatachalam, Republican, lost to Democrat Laura A. TeKrony, in the new Little River District, Loudoun County, VA
Washington
James Jeyaraj, deputy mayor of Auburn, Washington, lost to a Republican challenger for the Auburn City Council Position 3 seat.