Indian-American Democrats score early wins in US midterm elections

Washington: Indian-American Democrats Suhas Subramanyam and Aruna Miller were projected to win re-election on Tuesday as the first results of the US midterm elections emerged, while Pia Dandiya led a closely contested congressional race in Florida and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy trailed in Ohio’s governor’s contest.

NBC News projected Subramanyam’s victory in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, where the Democratic incumbent secured about 63 per cent of the vote against Republican challenger Dave Beckwith’s 35 per cent, with approximately 82 per cent of the expected vote counted.

The victory gives Subramanyam, who first entered Congress in 2025, a second two-year term.

Subramanyam, who became Virginia’s first Indian-American member of Congress in 2024, also faced independent candidate Ahsen Malik.

In neighbouring Maryland, Indian-American Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller secured another term after NBC News projected Democratic Governor Wes Moore’s re-election.

Miller, who ran alongside Moore on the Democratic ticket, defeated Republican lieutenant governor candidate Rob Krop, the running mate of former state delegate Dan Cox. Her re-election ensures continued Indian-American representation in one of the country’s highest state executive offices.

The results represented early successes for Indian-American Democrats as several closely watched races remained undecided.

In Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, Democrat Pia Dandiya was leading Republican Casey Askar by approximately 52 per cent to 48 per cent, with about 94 per cent of the expected vote counted, according to NBC’s election-night figures.

Approximately 280,000 votes had been counted in the contest. NBC had not projected a winner, although Dandiya held a substantial advantage with relatively few votes remaining.

Dandiya, a former school principal, is seeking to enter Congress from a newly redrawn South Florida district. The contest has attracted attention as one of the competitive House races that could influence control of the chamber.

In Ohio, Democrat Amy Acton maintained a sizeable early lead over Indian-American Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in the governor’s race.

Acton received approximately 63 per cent of the vote against Ramaswamy’s 34 per cent, with about one-quarter of the expected vote counted, according to NBC News. Roughly 1.2 million votes had been counted at that stage.

The network said the contest remained too early to call.

Ramaswamy, a biotechnology entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump, is seeking to succeed term-limited Republican Governor Mike DeWine.

Acton, a physician and former Ohio health director, emerged as the Democratic challenger in a contest that has drawn national attention.

In Massachusetts, Democratic Senator Ed Markey was projected to win re-election. The result meant defeat for independent Indian-American candidate Shiva Ayyadurai, who was among the challengers alongside Republican John Deaton.

Elsewhere, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff was projected to win re-election in Georgia, defeating Republican Congressman Mike Collins in one of the early Senate race calls.

In Georgia’s state legislative elections, Indian-American Democrat Jyot Singh held an early lead over Republican Yassin Moghazy in House District 97, although counting remained incomplete.

Other Indian-American candidates, including Republican Mahesh Ganorkar in North Carolina and Democrat Pooja Sethi in Texas, were awaiting definitive results.

The November 3 elections will determine control of the 435-member US House of Representatives and 35 Senate seats, along with governorships, state legislative positions and local offices. The elections are being held halfway through Trump’s second presidential term.