Suhas Subramanyan To Pramila Jayapal: 9 Indian Americans In US Polls Fray, 5 Seek Re-Election

Nine Indian Americans, including possible history-maker Suhas Subramanyan, are running for the US House of Representatives.

Nine Indian Americans are in the fray for the US House of Representatives. Five of them are seeking re-election, while another three are having their maiden run in congressional politics. 

Contesting for the US House of Representatives from the 10th Congressional District of Virginia, Suhas Subramanyan (38) is likely to create history by becoming the first Indian American to be elected from Virginia and the East Coast. 

He lives in a district that has a significantly large Indian American population in a Virginia suburb of Washington DC.

Subramanyam, who previously served as a White House Advisor to President Barack Obama, is a Hindu by faith and is popular among Indian Americans nationwide.

Ami Bera, a physician by profession is the senior-most Indian American Congressman representing the sixth Congressional District of California since 2013. Bera, 59, is all set to get a senior leadership position if the Democrats gain a majority in the House of Representatives, according to a PTI report. 

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, 59 who has been representing the seventh Congressional District of Washington State, since 2017, has emerged as a mighty legislative leader within the Democratic Party. Jayapal is among four Indian American lawmakers whose re-election is considered to be a foregone conclusion. 

Raja Krishnamoorthi, representing the seventh Congressional District of Illinois since 2017; Ro Khanna representing the seventeenth Congressional District of California since 2017 and Shri Thanedar, 69, representing the thirteenth Congressional District of Michigan since 2023 are the other three such Indian American lawmakers. 

Amish Shah is testing his electoral fortune for the House of Representatives in Arizona’s First Congressional District. He had three successful victories in the Arizona State Assembly in 2018, 2020 and 2022. 

An emergency room physician, Shah will be contesting against seven-term incumbent Republican David Schweikert from Arizona’s First Congressional District.

Republican leader Prasanth Reddy is running from the third Congressional District of Kansas for the House of Representatives against three-term Democrat Sharice Davids.

Rakesh Mohan is running for the House of Representatives from the third Congressional District of New Jersey. He is from the Republican party. But both Dr Reddy and Mohan have a slim chance of winning this time.

Dalip Singh Saund was the first Indian American elected to Congress from the 29th Congressional District of California in 1957. He served for three terms.

NY Election Ballot Has Only This Indian Language 

New York's 2024 presidential ballot came up with a language lineup that has attracted attention from Indians as the only Indian language included in it was Bengali. 

One of the major cities of the US with a vibrant multicultural population, New York had included four additional languages on its ballot papers alongside English. Bengali is the only Indian language among them apart from Chinese, Korean, and Spanish. 

The inclusion of the Bengali language holds not only symbolic significance but is also driven by legal requirements. 

New York City is mandated to provide voting materials in Bengali at certain polling sites by law. “The settlement required that an Asian Indian language be available where population density is high,” New York's Executive Director explained, highlighting the legal obligation. “Bengali was chosen after negotiations,” he added.

While Hindi is the most common language spoken in India, New York has a large Bengali-speaking population that includes residents from India and Bangladesh.