Indian American Candidates Battle GOP’s Immigration Backlash, Dems Progressive Challengers

WASHINGTON, DC- Indian American candidates heading into the November 3 midterm elections face challenges in both parties, with Republicans campaigning amid a party-wide backlash against H-1B visas and several Democrats losing primaries to challengers from their party’s progressive wing.

On the Republican side, at least nine Indian Americans are on the November ballot, according to community media tallies, led by Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign for Ohio governor.

The tally includes Saritha Komatireddy, who is running for New York attorney general, three US House nominees and state legislative candidates in New York, Tennessee, California and Michigan.

Their campaigns come as the Trump administration and Republican leaders take a harder line on skilled immigration, including a proposed $100,000 H-1B petition fee and the Labor Department’s suspension of PERM green card certifications for eight technology companies. The H-1B programme is widely used by Indian professionals, and the debate has fueled online hostility towards Indian Americans in parts of the conservative movement.

For Democrats, the pressure has come through primary challenges from the party’s left.

In Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, Representative Shri Thanedar lost the August 4 primary to state Representative Donavan McKinney, a democratic socialist backed by Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Rashida Tlaib and Justice Democrats.

McKinney won 51.9 per cent of the vote against Thanedar’s 48.1 per cent. Thanedar had broken with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in 2023.

In New York, Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, the first South Asian woman elected to state office in the state, lost the June 23 primary for the 38th Assembly District in Queens to David Orkin, a DSA member backed by the organization’s New York City chapter.

Orkin secured 58.8 per cent of the vote against Rajkumar’s 40.9 per cent. Rajkumar had accused the DSA of waging a campaign of hate against her.

In Georgia, Rahul Garabadu lost the June 16 Democratic runoff for state Senate District 7 to Ruwa Romman, a progressive endorsed by Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Romman won 60.1 per cent of the vote against Garabadu’s 39.9 per cent, according to the Georgia Secretary of State.

However, some Indian American Democrats have found success. In Los Angeles, City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who received DSA’s endorsement in her 2020 council race, is challenging Mayor Karen Bass. Raman led Bass 39 per cent to 28 per cent in a Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times and conducted from September 15 to 20. The two are scheduled to meet on October 13 in the race’s only live televised debate.

In Texas, immigration attorney Pooja Sethi won the March Democratic primary for House District 47 in Austin with about 76 per cent of the vote. If elected on November 3, she would become the first Indian American in the Texas Legislature. (IANS)