US midterms: Indian Americans win 30 state legislative seats; Raman leads in Los Angeles

• At least 30 Indian Americans won state legislative seats, with Democrats accounting for 28 victories

• Ranjeev Puri in Michigan and Priya Sundareshan in Arizona are positioned for leadership roles, subject to party votes

• Nithya Raman led the Los Angeles mayoral contest against Karen Bass, but the race remained too early to call

Indian American candidates secured at least 30 state legislative seats in the US midterm elections, with Democrats dominating the tally and two of their senior lawmakers positioned to take leadership roles in newly won chambers.

The results also put Los Angeles city council member Nithya Raman ahead of incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, although counting continued and the contest remained too early to call on Wednesday evening.

Of the 41 Indian American candidates contesting state legislative elections, 30 had won, two were leading and nine had lost, according to the reported tally. Democrats accounted for 28 victories, while Republicans retained two seats.

Every Indian American state legislative incumbent seeking re-election won. Eight of the successful candidates were unopposed, and 15 of the 30 winners were women.

Leadership prospects in Michigan and Arizona

In Michigan, House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri retained the 24th District with about 66 per cent of the vote, according to an unofficial results aggregator. Democrats regained the state House, restoring their control of both legislative chambers and the governorship.

Michigan Advance reported that Puri was set to become the first Indian American and Sikh speaker of the Michigan House. His elevation remains subject to a vote by the Democratic caucus.

In Arizona, Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan won another term in the 18th District with about 66 per cent, according to the secretary of state’s unofficial count.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee said the party had flipped both legislative chambers, securing control of the legislature and governorship together for the first time since the 1960s.

Sundareshan’s next position remained undecided. The Center Square reported that she intended to seek the Senate presidency, while a KTAR video caption identified her as the prospective Senate majority leader.

Raman ahead as Los Angeles counts votes

Raman held about 52 per cent of the counted vote against Bass’s 48 per cent, with roughly two-thirds of the expected ballots tallied. Returns placed Raman at about 405,000 votes and Bass at around 379,000.

Bass had briefly led early on Wednesday before Raman moved ahead. Major networks continued to describe the contest as too early to call.

In another Los Angeles race, Marissa Roy was projected to win the city attorney runoff against John McKinney with about 66 per cent. FOX 11 based its projection on Los Angeles County returns.

Breakthrough wins in Georgia and Texas

Two newcomers recorded victories described by their supporters as milestones for Indian American representation.

Jyot Singh won Georgia’s 97th House District with about 68 per cent, according to the state’s secretary of state. Advocacy organisation Indian American Impact identified him as the first Indian American and first Sikh American elected to the Georgia legislature.

In Texas, Pooja Sethi captured the open 47th House District with about 63 per cent, with all polling locations reporting. Sethi said on X that she was the first Indian American woman and first Asian American Democratic woman elected to the Texas legislature.

Indian American Democrats also defeated Republican incumbents in several contests.

Illinois state representative Nabeela Syed won the 26th Senate District, defeating appointed Republican senator Darby Hills by about 57 per cent to 43 per cent.

In New York, Lisa Kaul defeated Republican Rob Rolison in the 39th Senate District by roughly 55 per cent to 45 per cent, according to an unofficial aggregator and the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Iowa’s Nikhil Wagle was ahead of Republican Senator Scott Webster by about 150 votes out of approximately 32,000 in Senate District 47. The narrow contest remained unresolved.

Incumbents retain their seats

Successful Democratic incumbents included Illinois senator Ram Villivalam and representative Kevin Olickal, North Carolina senator Jay Chaudhuri, Pennsylvania’s Arvind Venkat, Ohio’s Anita Somani, Connecticut’s Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox and New York’s Jeremy Cooney.

California’s Ash Kalra and Washington’s Manka Dhingra also won re-election. Megan Srinivas in Iowa, Nima Kulkarni in Kentucky, Reuben D’Silva in Nevada, Reena Szczepanski in New Mexico and Vandana Slatter in Washington faced no opposition.

Other winners included Saba Haider in Illinois, Renuka Mayadev in Wisconsin, Krish Subrahmanian in Minnesota and Amar Mukunda in Maryland. Vermont elected incumbent Kesha Ram Hinsdale and newcomer Nikhil Goyal to multi-member Senate districts.

Republicans Sabi “Doc” Kumar in Tennessee and Anil Beephan in New York retained their seats with about 66 per cent and 54 per cent respectively.

In California, Darshana Patel led the 76th Assembly District contest with about 59 per cent, although no winner had been declared.

Illinois recorded the largest number of Indian American legislative winners, with four, followed by New York with three. Washington and Vermont had two each.

Mixed results in statewide contests

Maryland Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller won re-election alongside Governor Wes Moore, whose ticket received about 63 per cent of the vote.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, whose father immigrated from India, secured a third term with about 55 per cent.

Two Indian American Republicans lost prominent statewide races. Vivek Ramaswamy received about 44 per cent against Democrat Amy Acton’s 52 per cent in the Ohio governor’s contest. Saritha Komatireddy took about 38 per cent against incumbent New York Attorney General Letitia James.

At the local level, Sim Gill retained his position as Salt Lake County district attorney, while Rohit Malhotra won a Fulton County Commission seat. Oakland council member Janani Ramachandran and Westchester County legislator Anant Nambiar were returned unopposed.

With IANS inputs