Half a dozen Indian-Americans who have aspired to enter the House of Representatives have lost their respective primary elections in the United States of New York, Maryland, Colorado, and Utah.
The Indian-Americans who have caught national attention by raising more than a million dollar in their respective primaries, Aruna Miller in the Sixth Congressional District of Maryland and Suraj Patel in the 12th Congressional District of New York have lost in the primaries.
Miller,53, hailing from Hyderabad who is a successful State Delegate had lost to David Trone yesterday. Accepting her defeat, Miller said her campaign inspired hundreds of new Americans in Maryland and across the country to stand up and engage in the political process.
“We have helped shape the electorate for years to come. Our campaign did not have the biggest wallet, but it had the most heart. While we did not prevail, we did make a difference. We stood up to ensure a voice of diversity was part of the electoral process.” she said.
Miller lost to Trone, a successful businessman by a difference of 10 percent of votes. Trone has self-funded his campaign with more than USD 10 million from his own pocket.
“While tonight brings a close to the campaign sooner than we wanted, our work is far from over. I’m eager to work with the Democratic party to fight back against Donald Trump this November,” Miller added.
An Indian-American Suraj Patel lost to Carolyn Maloney, 72, contempt of giving a good fight to the Congressman in the 12th Congressional District of New York.
Maloney, who is seeking her 14th term in the Congress, received 58.5 percent of the votes against 41.5 percent by Patel.
Omar Vaid and Radhakrishna Mohan came in third and fourth in neighboring 11th Congressional District of New York respectively.
Indian-American Saira Rao lost very badly to Congresswoman Diana DeGette in the Democratic primary for the first Congressional District of Colorado. Rao received 27.9 percent of the votes as against 72.1 by incumbent DeGette.
The current Congress has five Indian-Americans who are seeking re-election in the November Congressional elections, Ami Bera and Ro Khanna from California, Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois and Pramila Jayapal from Washington State.
By Sowmya Sangam
