Samosa Caucus Will Lose Two Members; Amish Shah And Pia Dandiya Are Hopefuls

WASHINGTON, DC- The number of Indian Americans in the US House of Representatives is set to fall from six to four after the November 3 midterm elections, unless Democrats Amish Shah in Arizona or Pia Dandiya in Florida win their closely contested races. Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi and Shri Thanedar are set to leave the chamber.

All six Indian American members of the current House, informally known as the “Samosa Caucus”, are Democrats: Ami Bera, Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal, Krishnamoorthi, Thanedar and Suhas Subramanyam.

Krishnamoorthi, who represents Illinois’s 8th Congressional District, gave up his House seat to run for the Senate. He lost the March 17 Democratic primary to Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, who secured 40.39 per cent of the vote against his 32.71 per cent.

“Obviously, this is not the result we sought… But unlike Donald Trump, I’m not going to question the outcome. I’m proud of the race we ran,” Krishnamoorthi said in his concession.

Thanedar lost the August 4 Democratic primary in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District to state Representative Donavan McKinney, who secured 51.9 per cent of the vote against Thanedar’s 48.1 per cent.

Justice Democrats spent nearly $1 million backing McKinney, who also received an endorsement from Senator Bernie Sanders.

The other four Indian American incumbents are contesting seats rated Solid or Safe Democratic by the Cook Political Report, Inside Elections and Sabato’s Crystal Ball. They are Bera in California’s 3rd District, Khanna in California’s 17th, Jayapal in Washington’s 7th and Subramanyam in Virginia’s 10th.

In two of these races, Indian American candidates are competing against one another. Khanna faces Republican Ritesh Tandon, while Jayapal faces Republican Nirav Sheth.

Two other races could offer a chance to add Indian American representation to the House.

In Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, Democrat Shah, an emergency room physician, faces Republican Jay Feely, who has received President Donald Trump’s backing. The Cook Political Report moved the race from Toss-up to Lean Democratic on September 25, while Inside Elections and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rate it a Toss-up.

The only publicly available October poll, conducted by FirstStrategic, put Shah at 44 per cent and Feely at 42 per cent, within the survey’s margin of error of 5.4 percentage points. Shah narrowly lost the seat to Republican David Schweikert in 2024.

“Now, it’s my job to earn the support of every voter in this district—including Democrats who voted for another candidate, Independents frustrated with our political system, and Republicans disappointed with the state of the country,” Shah said after winning the Democratic primary in July.

In Florida’s redrawn 22nd Congressional District, an open seat, Democrat Dandiya faces Republican Casey Askar. The Cook Political Report rates the race a Toss-up, Inside Elections rates it Tilt Republican and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rates it Lean Republican.

Trump won the newly drawn district by 55 per cent to 44 per cent in 2024.

Polling in the race has been limited. A survey by Impact Research for House Majority PAC, a Democratic political organization, put Dandiya at 46 per cent and Askar at 44 per cent. An August poll by Tavern Research showed the candidates tied.

Dandiya, a former teacher and principal born in Palm Beach County to parents who immigrated from India, would become Florida’s first South Asian member of Congress.

The caucus is unlikely to grow beyond six members in January, as no other Indian American is a competitive House nominee. Republicans Tandon, Sheth and Mahesh Ganorkar, who is challenging Democrat Valerie Foushee in North Carolina’s 4th District, are all running in seats rated Solid Democratic.

The departures come in a difficult election cycle for incumbents. Twelve sitting House members lost their primaries this year, including seven Democrats.

Indian Americans number about 5.5 million, or roughly 1.6 per cent of the US population. In an AAPI Vote/AAPI Data survey conducted this summer, Indian American voters favored Democratic House candidates over Republicans by 66 per cent to 18 per cent. (IANS)