US Election 2020: Four Indian-American Democratic Lawmakers re-elected in house

In a clear-cut victory, four Indian-American Democratic lawmakers have retained power after being re-elected to the US House of Representatives. The Indian-American community has emerged as a force to reckon with for the first time in the history of the US presidential election. Dr. Ami Bera,  Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal and Raja Krishnamoorthi have been re-elected to the US House of Representatives. 

The campaigns from both sides that is the Democrat and the Republican had initiated several measures to attract approximately 1.8 million members of the community who have emerged as an important voting bloc in the battleground states of Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Texas.

'Samosa Caucus', is a term used to refer to the informal grouping of Indian-American lawmakers. It was coined by Krishnamoorthi. The community might expand with at least one more candidate as physician Dr. Hiral Tipirneni who was leading against Republican incumbent David Schweikert from the sixth Congressional district of Arizona when last reports came in.

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About the four Indian-American Democratic lawmakers win

Tipirneni, 52, if elected would become the second Indian-American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, Jayapal, 55, was the first Indian-American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives in 2016. Raja Krishnamoorthi, 47, easily defeated his rival Preston Nelson, 30, of the Libertarian Party. He had accounted for nearly 71 percent of the total votes counted when the last reports came in. Further Ro Khanna, 44, also easily defeated fellow Indian-American Ritesh Tandon, 48, of the Republican Party with a margin of more than 50 percentage points. This will be his third-consecutive win from the 17th Congressional district of California. Also, Dr Ami Bera, 55, the senior-most member of the 'Samosa Caucus', won the seventh Congressional District of California for the fifth consecutive term. He had established an inaccessible lead by more than 25 percentage points against his Republican rival 65-year-old Buzz Patterson, when the last report came in.

The 'Samosa caucus' currently comprises five Indian-American lawmakers, including the four members of the House of Representatives and Senator and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

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(With PTI inputs)