Caught in Democratic Sweep: Indian American Candidates Make Historic Gains in November 4 Elections
Indian American candidates across the United States scored major victories in elections on Tuesday, November 4, marking historic milestones for South Asian representation in American politics at both statewide and local levels.
Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s mayoral race, becoming the first Muslim and person of South Asian descent to hold the position, according to the city’s Board of Elections. The 34-year-old democratic socialist defeated Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent.
Born in Uganda, Mamdani moved to New York City when he was 7 and became an American citizen in 2018, according to biographical information. His parents are political science professor Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair. He has served as state assemblyman since 2021, representing Astoria, Astoria Heights and Ditmars-Steinway in Queens.
More than 2 million votes were cast in the contest, the first time that number had been reached since 1969, according to the city’s Board of Elections. Mamdani’s campaign focused on reducing the cost of living, with promises to freeze rent for rent-stabilized units, provide free bus service and open city-owned grocery stores in each borough.
In Virginia, Democrat state Sen. Ghazala F. Hashmi won the Virginia race for lieutenant governor, according to an Associated Press projection, becoming the country’s first Muslim woman elected to statewide office. Hashmi, 61, beat Republican John Reid, a conservative talk show host who trailed her in polling and fundraising throughout the campaign, according to news reports.
As lieutenant governor, she will preside over the state Senate and be able to break ties in the chamber. She is also Virginia’s first Indian American elected statewide. Elected in 2019 to the state senate, Hashmi defeated a Republican incumbent and helped flip the chamber, becoming the chamber’s first Muslim and Indian American in the process, according to her campaign.
In Cincinnati, Ohio, Aftab Pureval won reelection as mayor on Tuesday, defeating Cory Bowman, a Republican who is Vice President JD Vance’s half-brother, according to news reports. Pureval was first elected mayor in 2021 and became the first Asian American mayor in the city’s history.
Democrat Mayor of Edison, New Jersey, Samip (Sam) Joshi was reelected for a second term along with three new members to the township council.
Pureval was born on September 9, 1982, in Xenia, Ohio. His parents were both immigrants; his Punjabi father Devinder Singh Pureval came from India, and his mother Drenko was a refugee from Tibet, according to biographical information. The final vote tally found that Pureval won 78 percent of the vote with 51,698 votes, while Bowman received 14,383 votes, totaling 22 percent, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
New Jersey State Legislature
In New Jersey, Democrats Carol Murphy and Balvir Singh defeated Republicans Doug Dillon and Dione Johnson in the race for the state’s 7th District Assembly seats, according to election results. Singh represents Legislative District 7 and serves as the first Sikh legislator in the state’s history. Singh, 40, was sworn in as a member of the New Jersey General Assembly representing the 7th Legislative District in Burlington County on Jan. 30 by Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin.
Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla won election to the State Assembly in the 32nd district, according to election results. Bhalla, who has served as Hoboken’s mayor, ran alongside Katie Brennan against Republican candidates Stephen Bishop and Kaushal Patel in the general election.
Virginia State Legislature
In Virginia’s state legislature races, Jas Singh, known as JJ, won reelection to the Virginia House of Delegates representing District 26, according to news reports. Singh has said he’s the first person in the country’s history to wear a turban in a state legislature. He previously won a special election defeating Republican Ram Venkatachalam in Loudoun County, according to the Associated Press.
Kannan Srinivasan retained his seat in the Virginia State Senate representing District 32, according to election results. Srinivasan was elected to the Senate in a 2025 special election and previously served in the House of Delegates from 2024 to 2025.
Local Elections Across Multiple States
In New Jersey local races, Democrat Kiran Desai was elected to the Old Bridge Township Council Ward 3, according to election results. In Woodbridge Township Council Ward 4, Democrat Virbhadra N. Patel defeated Republican Gnanarani Devaraj.
In nonpartisan school board elections, Neerav Modi was elected to the Jamesburg Board of Education; Sonali Sinha was elected to the North Brunswick Board of Education; and Deven M Patel was elected to South Brunswick Board of Education, according to election results.
Democrat Mayor of Edison, New Jersey, Samip (Sam) Joshi was reelected for a second term along with three new members to the township council, according to news reports. Vishal Patel was reelected to the Edison Board of Education, while Democratic candidate Biral Patel won a first term on the Edison Township council, defeating Republican Samiksha Sharma.
In West Windsor, New Jersey, Mayor Hemant Marathe was reelected, defeating fellow Indian American Sujit Singh, according to election results.
New York City Council member Shekar Krishnan was reelected to District 25, according to news reports.
The victories come at a time when issues such as immigration policy and representation have become increasingly prominent in American political discourse. The successful candidates represented both major parties, though most ran on the Democratic ticket in their respective races.
This story, conceptualized and edited by American Kahani’s News Desk, was aggregated by AI from several news reports.