Indian Americans on a roll in race for Congress

WASHINGTON: Indian American Pramila Jaypal, a candidate for US congress from Washington state, advanced to the general election on Tuesday, making 2016 an unprecedented

WASHINGTON: Indian American Pramila Jaypal, a candidate for US congress from Washington state, advanced to the general election on Tuesday, making 2016 an unprecedented year for the community.

HT Image

There are five Indian Americans in the Congressional race who have cleared primaries: Jaypal, Ami Bera and Ro Khanna in California, Raja Krishnamoorthi in Illinois and Kamala Harris who is running for senate from California. If she wins, Harris will be the first Indian American ever elected to the upper chamber.

This is the highest number of Indian Americans ever to have cleared the primaries for US congress. The previous best was two, in 2014.

Indian Americans tend to lean Democratic — 80% according to a poll published earlier is year. But Republicans are actively in pursuit.The only two Indian Americans ever elected governors in the US are both Republicans — Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal, who also ran for president; and South Carolina’s Nikki Haley.

Jaypal, a Washington state senator, came to the US to study at the age of 16, and stayed on, becoming a leading advocate for civil and human rights focussed on women and immigrants.

Her bid got a major boost from Bernie Sanders, who she supported for the Democratic presidential ticket, last June when he asked his supporters to contribute to her campaign fund.