Indian American candidates experienced a mix of victories and defeats during the recent Super Tuesday primaries. Veteran Congressman Ami Bera and Ro Khanna successfully defended their positions, securing their seventh and fifth terms, respectively. Bera advanced to the general election in California’s 6th Congressional District, while Khanna decisively won in the 17th Congressional District against Republican Anita Chen.
However, Indian-American engineer Rishi Kumar, a Democrat, failed in his bid for Congress, securing only 6.3% of the vote. Meanwhile, Indian-American Republican Vin Kruttiventi advanced to the general election in California’s 14th Congressional District, securing second place. He invested $500,000 of his personal funds into his campaign.
Clinical psychologist Harmesh Kumar’s bid for the vacant US Senate seat ended in disappointment. Ash Kalra emerged as the top candidate in the 25th Assembly District, but challenger Tara Sreekrishnan faced defeat in her race for California’s 26th district state Assembly seat.
Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, another Indian American candidate, conceded to Donald Trump after losing all but one state in Super Tuesday’s primary contests. Additionally, Indian-American billionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy suspended his bid and pledged support for Trump’s presidential bid.
