WASHINGTON: Over three dozen Indian Americans are running for local bodies and state legislative elections across the country, reflecting the growing interest among this small ethnic community in becoming part of the political mainstream.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi often says at various community gatherings, motivating and encouraging members to run for elections at all levels.
California probably has the largest number of Indian Americans running for local offices, with two members of the House of Representatives, Ro Khanna and Dr. Ami Bera, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, whose mother was from India.
Among the candidates are Adlah Chisti, who is running for County Supervisor in District 11, Aliya Chisti for the City College Board of San Francisco, Darshana Patel for State Assembly, Nicole Fernandez for San Mateo City Council, Nithya Raman for Los Angeles City Council, Richa Awasthi for Foster City Council, and Sukhdeep Kaur for Emeryville City Council.
Tara Sreekrishnan is seeking to enter California's State Assembly from District 26 in Silicon Valley.
With nearly 900,000 Indian American residents, California boasts the largest Indian American population in the entire country.
In Michigan, a presidential battleground state, elections are often decided by as few as 10,000 votes. Dr. Ajay Raman is running for Oakland County Commissioner in District 14, while Anil Kumar and Ranjeev Puri are running for the Michigan State House.
Indian Americans are a crucial part of Arizona's growth and diversity. Priya Sundareshan is running for the State Senate in Arizona, and Ravi Shah is running for School Board.
In Pennsylvania, Anand Patek, Anna Thomas, and Arvind Venkat are running for the State House, while Nikil Saval is seeking a seat in the State Senate.
In Illinois, Anusha Thotakura is running for School Board, and Nabeel Syed is running for the State House.
If elected, Ashwin Ramaswamy would become the youngest person ever elected to the Georgia State Senate. Recently, he has been subject to racial and hate attacks by his opponents.
In Ohio, Chantel Raghu is running for County Commissioner, and Pavan Parikh is running for County Clerk of Courts, while in Virginia, Danny Avula is running for Mayor of Richmond.
In New York, Jeremy Cooney and Manita Sanghvi are running for the State Senate, while Zohran Mamdani is seeking a seat in the State Assembly.
Indian Americans running for local offices in Texas include Ashika Ganguly for City Council, Karthik Soora for State Senate, Nabil Shike for County Constable, Ramesh Premkumar for City Council, Ravi Sandill for Judge, Salman Bhojani for State House, Shekhar Sinha for State House, Sherine Thomas for Judge, Suleman Lalani for State House, and Sumbel Zeb for County Appraisals Court.
Manka Dhingra is running for Attorney General of Washington State, while Mona Das is running for Commissioner of Public Lands.