Indian-American Democrat Pia Dandiya wins US House race in Florida

• Indian-American Democrat Pia Dandiya defeated Republican Casey Askar in Florida's 22nd Congressional District, while Suhas Subramanyam and Aruna Miller also secured victories in Virginia and Maryland

• Democrat Amy Acton led Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio's governor's race, while several other Indian-American candidates remained in closely contested races across the US

• Democrats flipped a Senate seat in North Carolina, with Roy Cooper defeating Republican Michael Whatley, and made gains in other key Senate and gubernatorial contests

Indian-American Democrat Pia Dandiya has won a closely contested US House race in Florida, defeating Republican candidate Casey Askar in the state's 22nd Congressional District, according to projections by Decision Desk HQ, CBS News and NBC News.

Dandiya's victory marks an important gain for Democrats as several closely watched races across the country unfold during the US midterm elections. The results also saw Indian-American Democrats secure victories in other key contests, while Republican Vivek Ramaswamy trailed Democratic challenger Amy Acton in Ohio's gubernatorial race.

According to NBC News, Dandiya secured 51.9 per cent of the vote against Askar's 48.1 per cent, with approximately 97.6 per cent of the expected vote counted. More than 292,000 votes had been tallied.

A former school principal, Dandiya contested the election from a newly redrawn congressional district in South Florida. Her campaign focused on rising living costs, economic affordability and expanding opportunities for local communities.

Congratulating her, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said Dandiya had focused on issues affecting South Florida, including the affordability crisis and the American Dream.

Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal also welcomed the result, describing Dandiya as the third South Asian American woman set to serve in the US House of Representatives.

Elsewhere, Indian-American Democrat Suhas Subramanyam was projected to win re-election from Virginia's 10th Congressional District. NBC News figures showed him leading Republican challenger Dave Beckwith with 61.4 per cent of the vote against 36.5 per cent, with approximately 88.7 per cent of the expected vote counted.

Subramanyam, who entered Congress in 2025, will serve another two-year term. He became Virginia's first Indian-American member of Congress following his election in 2024.

In Maryland, Indian-American lieutenant governor Aruna Miller also secured another term after NBC News projected the re-election of Democratic governor Wes Moore. Miller contested alongside Moore on the Democratic ticket, defeating the Republican ticket led by former state delegate Dan Cox and lieutenant governor candidate Rob Krop.

The victories added to the early successes of Indian-American Democrats in the midterm elections, although several other contests involving candidates of Indian origin remained undecided.

In Ohio, Democrat Amy Acton maintained a lead over Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in the gubernatorial contest. According to NBC News, Acton had secured 54.3 per cent of the vote against Ramaswamy's 42.8 per cent, with around 46 per cent of the expected vote counted.

The network said the race was too early to call, noting that Ramaswamy would need a significantly larger share of the remaining votes to overtake Acton.

Ramaswamy, a biotechnology entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, has received endorsements from US President Donald Trump and outgoing governor Mike DeWine. He is seeking to succeed DeWine, who cannot contest another term due to term limits.

Acton, a physician and former Ohio health director, is the Democratic candidate in the closely watched contest.

In North Carolina's 4th Congressional District, Republican Mahesh "Max" Ganorkar lost to Democratic incumbent Valerie Foushee, according to NBC News projections. Foushee held a substantial lead with approximately 78 per cent of the expected vote counted.

In Massachusetts, Democratic senator Ed Markey was projected to win re-election, defeating independent Indian-American candidate Shiva Ayyadurai and Republican challenger John Deaton.

Meanwhile, Indian-American Democrat Jyot Singh was leading Republican Yassin Moghazy in Georgia's state House District 97, according to unofficial Gwinnett County results. The contest had not been called.

In Texas, Democrat Pooja Sethi was contesting the open House District 47 seat against Republican Jennifer Mushtaler, while Republican Saritha Komatireddy was challenging Democratic Attorney General Letitia James in New York.

In Arizona, Democrat Amish Shah faced Republican Jay Feely in the 1st Congressional District.

Several other Indian-American candidates, including California Representatives Ro Khanna and Ami Bera, Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal in Washington, were also on the ballot.

At the national level, Democrats registered an early breakthrough by flipping a Senate seat in North Carolina. Former governor Roy Cooper defeated Republican Michael Whatley in the contest to succeed retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis, according to NBC News projections.

Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff was also projected to win re-election in Georgia, defeating Republican Congressman Mike Collins. Democrat Chris Pappas secured New Hampshire's Senate seat, while Republican Senator Ashley Moody won Florida's special election for the seat previously held by Marco Rubio.

In Virginia, Democratic Senator Mark Warner was projected to secure another term.

Democrats entered election night seeking to overcome the Republicans' 53-47 Senate majority. At approximately 9 pm Eastern, NBC News counted 45 Democratic and 34 Republican seats, including those not up for election, with several contests still being counted.

The battle for the House of Representatives also remained closely contested. Democrats need a net gain of three seats to secure a majority, with 218 seats required for control of the chamber.

Meanwhile, Democratic governors Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois were projected to win re-election.

With several competitive races yet to be decided, the midterm results are shaping up as a closely watched test of the political balance in Washington and across key states. Neither President Donald Trump nor the White House had issued a public reaction to the results on X by approximately 9 pm Eastern.

With IANS inputs