Blue Wave in Virginia: Indian American Suhas Subramanyam Wins State Senate Seat Along With Incumbent Ghazala Hashmi
- In the State House, Kannan Srinivasan was successful in his bid to the Virginia House of Delegates to represent District 26.
Indian American Democrats fared well in Virginia, helping flip the House of Delegates to Democratic control, and preserving a blue majority in the state Senate. Suhas Subramanyam, who has represented eastern Loudoun in the House of Delegates for the past four years, won his State Senate bid to represent District 32. “I’m just so humbled and grateful that the people of Loudoun County are sending me back to the General Assembly. I’ve always been a fighter for the community, and I want to continue that work,” he said.
A small business owner, he ran on improving funding for public education, lowering healthcare costs, further reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting the right to vote, improving access to the ballot in Virginia, and supporting Virginians through the changing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to his campaign website.
He is joined in the state Senate by Bangladeshi American Saddam Salim and incumbent Ghazala Hashmi. Salim defeated Ken Reid by receiving 68 percent of the votes in the state’s 37th District, while Hashmi, who represents District 15, garnered 62 percent of the votes, according to The New York Times.
In the state House, Kannan Srinivasan won a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates to represent District 26. During his campaign, he promised to fight for our public schools, stand up for gun safety, and protect abortion rights. In 2019, he unsuccessfully ran against Republican Loudoun County Treasurer Roger Zurn. A Loudoun resident for almost 25 years, he immigrated from India in 1993, according to his campaign.
Meanwhile, Puja Khanna lost her bid as Board of Supervisors (Dulles) to Republican Matthew F. Letourneau. Khanna received 4,814 or 36.6 % of the votes, while the winner got double — 8,733 or 63.24%, according to pap.org. Sri S. Amudhanar was unsuccessful in the race for Commissioner of Revenue in Loudoun County, losing by a decent margin to Robert S. “Bob” Wertz Jr. In the new Little River District, Democrat Laura A. TeKrony, who works as a staff aide for Randall, defeated Republican Ram Venkatachalam, garnering 53% of the vote, Loudoun Now reported.
(Photos, courtesy Subramanyam and Hashmi campaigns)