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Mamdani not only one with India connection in US polls this time, list runs long
Several Indian-American, South Asian candidates on high-stakes ballots as US goes to polls under shadow of Trump's rhetoric
Zohran Mamdani in the New York mayoral race may be the most high-profile and social media-savvy candidate in the election being held in the US on November 4 — one publication even called him “The Internet's Mayor” already — but the list of Indian-origin candidates across American states is long.
One who shares many identities with Mamdani is fellow Democrat and Virginia Lieutenant Governor candidate Ghazala Hashmi, who is Muslim too. the first Muslim and the first South Asian American to serve in the Virginia Senate.
Hashmi, 61, was four years old when she emigrated with her mother and older brother from India to the US. Her father was in Georgia already as he was completing his PhD in international relations and beginning his university teaching career.
In November 2019, Hashmi made her debut with 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, news agency PTI reported.
In 2024, she was named Chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee, a crucial leadership post for two critical Democratic priorities — reproduction rights and freedom, and public education.
In New York City, Mamdani, the 34-year-old son of renowned Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, a Ugandan author of Indian ancestry, is leading the race.
Mamdani was born in Uganda and raised in New York City, and is a New York State Assemblymember, who pitches himself as a “democratic socialist” while getting regular insults as a “commie”,"Jew hater" or simply “stupid” from President Donald Trump.
He is facing off against former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, whom he defeated for the party ticket and is running as an independent, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, whose administration was plagued by scandals, dropped out in September.
Also in the India or Subcontinent list is Aftab Pureval, who is running for mayor of Cincinnati in 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.
Aftab Pureval has not publicly declared his specific personal religious affiliation but has faced racist and ethnocentric abuse in his political career. His background is rooted in a diverse heritages. While his father Devinder Singh Pureval possibly has Sikh and/or Hindu background, his mother is a Tibetan Buddhist. He has spoken about his connection to the Tibetan community and recognised religious repression that Tibet has endured under the Chinese regime.
Pureval is not a rank newcomer. He 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.
With most US states having at least one local election, several Indian-American and South Asian candidates are running for city councils in New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Washington state, Georgia, Florida and Pennsylvania.
“Across the country, our communities have the chance to shape the future… and your voice can make the difference between progress and setback,” said a statement by Indian American Impact, a community organisation.
The organisation said that over the course of the year, it has endorsed 50 South Asian candidates who ran for office this year, and 36 of those candidates will be on ballots nationwide on Tuesday.
