Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 4: Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has scripted history in the United States midterm elections by becoming the first Muslim elected to the Senate after winning Michigan seat.
He defeated Republican Mike Rogers in a bitter campaign, giving the Democratic Party’s left wing a breakthrough victory in one of the nation’s most important swing states. “Michigan, we did it!” El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, said in a speech at his election headquarters in Detroit. “I am so proud and honoured to stand here as your senator-elect from the great state of Michigan,” he said.
A former public health official who has never held elected office, the Michigan doctor El-Sayed rose from a double-digit defeat in Michigan’s Democratic gubernatorial primary eight years ago to win a seat in the US Senate. Backed by progressive leaders including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, his victory will bolster the movement ahead of the 2028 presidential election, offering evidence that candidates embracing its agenda can win in critical battleground states.
El-Sayed overcame massive outside spending in both the Democratic primary and general election with a grassroots campaign built around universal health care. “You deserve to be able to see a doctor without getting a huge bill,” he told Michiganders on the eve of the vote, vowing to upend America’s divisive multi-billion-dollar for-profit medical system.
During the race, El-Sayed drew huge campaign crowds across the state, even in deeply conservative Republican areas. El-Sayed also vowed to get “money out of politics” and address the harsh economic troubles that have voters yearning for a political newcomer to shake up the status quo. The election makes El-Sayed the first Democratic doctor in the Senate since 1969.
A number of India-origin Americans were also in the fray in the US midterm elections. Ro Khanna, Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal and Suhas Subramanyam were among Indian-American lawmakers seeking re-election to the US House of Representatives, while fellow Democrats Pia Dandiya and Amish Shah were in competitive races to make their debut as Congresspersons.
Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, son of Kerala immigrants, has lost in the Ohio governor’s election. Ramaswamy, who received the backing of Trump and won the Republican primary in May, lost to Amy Acton by over 200,000 votes. The victory of Acton, a physician, marks the first time since 2006 that a Democrat has been elected as governor in Ohio.
Suhas Subramanyam, who served as an advisor to former US President Barack Obama, has been re-elected as a member of the US House of Representatives. The 40-year-old won from Virginia’s 10th congressional district, polling over 61 per cent of the vote against Republican Dave Beckwith, who managed to get 36 per cent of the ballots cast. Subramanyam was born in Houston to Indian parents and attended college at Tulane University in New Orleans. After earning his law degree with honours at North-western University, he served as a White House technology policy advisor to President Obama.
Pia Dandiya, a former high school principal, has won the US House of Representatives in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District. The Democratic candidate bagged 51.9 per cent of the votes against Republican Casey Askar. Born and raised in Palm Beach County in Florida, Dandiya, 39, started her career as a teacher and was a high school principal in Harlem.
Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna has won from California’s 17th Congressional District, which includes parts of Silicon Valley, against Ritesh Tandon, an Indian American entrepreneur. Khanna, who was seeking another term in the US House of Representatives, won by more than 42,000 votes.
In Washington’s 7th Congressional District, Pramila Jayapal, whose family roots are in Kerala, defeated Republican Nirav Sheth, a Gujarat-born former US Marine. Jayapal, who has represented the constituency since 2017 and is the first Indian-American woman elected to the US House of Representatives, won by over 152,000 votes.
Indian-American Democratic lawmaker Ami Bera has won re-election to the US House in California’s 3rd Congressional District, defeating Republican Robb Tucker. The 61-year-old physician-turned-politician won his eighth term in the US House of Representatives. Bera, the longest-serving Indian American in the US Congress, was first elected to Congress in 2013. Born in Los Angeles in 1965 to Gujarati immigrant parents, Bera went to public schools in California, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and Doctor of Medicine from the University of California, Irvine. The third Indian-American to be elected to the US Congress, Bera won by more than 23,000 votes.
Pooja Sethi has won the Texas House District 47 election as a Democratic candidate. An attorney by profession, Sethi has previously worked as the chief of staff in the Texas Legislature.
Democratic candidate Sandeep Srivastava is contesting from Texas House District 66. He is a businessman and community advocate who has been living in the Plano-Frisco area for several years. He is currently trailing Matt Shaheen, the Republican candidate who has represented the constituency for five terms.
Physician and former State Representative Amish Shah, the Democratic candidate from Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, is currently ahead. He is contesting against Republican Jay Feely, a former National Football League kicker who has received an endorsement from Trump. Shah previously served three terms in the Arizona House of Representatives. He also contested the 2024 congressional election but narrowly lost to Republican David Schweikert.
Aruna Miller was re-elected as Maryland’s Lieutenant Governor after Democratic Governor Wes Moore defeated Republican Dan Cox. Born in Hyderabad in 1964, Miller moved to the US with her family at age seven and studied civil engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, where she graduated in 1989.
Nithya Raman, an urban planner and member of the Los Angeles City Council, is in a close fight in the Los Angeles mayor race against her fellow Democrat Karen Bass. The latest trends showed Raman with a slight lead over Bass, the incumbent mayor. If she wins in the US’ second most populous city, she will follow the lead of the largest city, New York, where Indian-origin Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor last year.
In New York, Republican Saritha Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor, lost the attorney general’s election to Democratic incumbent Letitia James. Republican Mahesh Ganorkar also lost in North Carolina, independent Sandeep Dixit in Ohio and independent Anil Kumar in Michigan congressional contests.
At the state legislative level, Democrat Arvind Venkat won re-election in Pennsylvania’s House District 30, while Ram Villivalam retained Illinois Senate District 8. In Illinois Senate District 26, Indian-American Democrat Nabeela Syed defeated Republican incumbent Darby Hills.
Democrat Jyot Singh defeated Republican Party’s Yassin Moghazy to become the first Sikh American and first Indian American elected to the Georgia General Assembly.