New York: As the US goes to polls on Tuesday, several India-American and South Asian candidates are running for some key positions nationwide, in the first fight at the ballots in the second term of Donald Trump’s presidency.
“It takes immense courage to run for office, and these leaders have stepped up to represent their communities and build a better future for this country,” said a statement by Indian American Impact, an organisation which empowers South Asian and Indian-American communities through civic partnership and community engagement.
“The best way to support these candidates is to vote and get your friends and family out to vote. Make sure you have a plan to vote this Tuesday,” it said. The organisation said that over the course of the year, it has endorsed 50 South Asian candidates who ran for office this year, a record for it in an odd-numbered election year.
It added that 36 of those candidates will be on ballots nationwide on Tuesday.
Among these, the most prominent and closely watched races will be the election for Virginia Lieutenant Governor, where Ghazala Hashmi, the first Muslim and the first South Asian American to serve in the Virginia Senate, is vying for the post.
As a four-year-old, Hashmi had emigrated with her mother and older brother from India to the US, where they joined her father in Georgia just as he was completing his PhD in international relations and beginning his university teaching career.
First elected to office in November 2019, Hashmi won an upset victory
over a Republican incumbent, delivering the majority to Democrats for the first time in years and shocking the political establishment, according to her profile.
In New York City, all eyes are set on the important mayoral election where Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani is emerging as a front-runner.
Mamdani, 34, born in Uganda and raised in New York City, is a New York State Assemblymember and democratic socialist running for Mayor.
The Democratic nominee will face off against former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent candidate, and the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa, on the ballots. Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, whose administration has been plagued by scandals, dropped out of the mayoral race in September.