NEW YORK(TIP): Indian Americans appear to be doing well in politics. In the latest political bouts, Hiral Tipirneni and Sanjay Patel ran and won unopposed on August 28 Democratic primaries in Arizona and Florida.
On Tuesday , another Indian American Democrat, tech executive Anita Malik, is leading by 383 votes against her nearest rival in Arizona’s 6th congressional district. Malik’s race is too close to call.
Tipirneni, who lost a close special election to Rep. Debbie Lesko in April, will now face the same rival in the midterm elections on November 6 in Arizona’s 8thcongressional district.
In the highly competitive special election, which was warranted because the incumbent GOP Rep. Trent Franks resigned last December after he was embroiled in a sexual misconduct scandal, Tipirneni received more than 82,300 votes (47.4 percent), roughly 9,000 fewer than Lesko.
However, despite the competitive nature of their last race, Cook Political Report rates the district as a solidly Republican seat in November.
Patel will run against face incumbent Bill Posey, who similarly ran unopposed in the Republican primary in Florida’s 8th congressional district.
Patel, a first-generation immigrant and small business owner, also starts as an underdog. Cook Political report rates the district as a solidly Republicanseat, with GOP having a 11-percentage point advantage. Sabato’s Crystal Ball also rates the district as a “safe” Republican seat.
Patel is also behind in the money race, having raised only $231,000, less than half of the nearly $600,000 collected by Posey, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The Indian American is running on a number of issues such as healthcare, economy and jobs, environment and education.
On healthcare, he has vowed to work “to make healthcare a right for every American by supporting Medicare for All.”
With the primary victories of Patel and Tipirneni, the number of Indian Americans on the midterm congressional ballots has reached double digits.