Midterm winners 2010

Indian Americans create history

Republicans won control of the US House of Representatives in a landslide congressional election November 2 that dealt a major blow to President Barack Obama just two years into his term in office.

“SC Governor elect Nikki Haley: I know what people want.”

Democrat Kamala Harris for California Attorney General was endorsed by President Obama

Dr. Prasad Srinivasan

Dr. Janak Joshi

All 435 seats in the House and 37 seats in the Senate were up for grabs as well as 37 governorships and many state and local positions.

The Republican takeover of the House of Representatives with 60 seats, more than the 39 they needed for majority, marks the first time the party will control one of the two US chambers of Congress since 2006.

They also grabbed an extra six seats in the 100- member Senate, with two outstanding races yet to be decided.

The last major landslide in a mid-term election came in 1994, when Republicans recaptured both the House and Senate just two years into former president Bill Clinton's term. Conservatives gained 54 House seats in that election.

November 2's victory will make Republican John Boehner the speaker of the House and the third most powerful politician in the country. Joining the league of winning Republicans this year is an Indian American political star Nikki Haley.

Daughter of Sikh immigrant parents from Amritsar, Haley, born Nimrata (Nikki) Randhawa created history as the first Indian American woman to win the Governor's race in South Carolina state.

Haley will be the first woman chief executive of the State and America's second Indian-American governor after Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, also a Republican, who became the first with his election three years ago.

A mother of two Haley, 38, who defeated Democrat Vincent Sheheen, with a surprisingly close 51 percent 47 percent vote in the most expensive election in state history, has already like Jindal been mentioned as a 'long shot' presidential candidate for 2012.

Haley saw quite a bit of controversy surround her campaign before the primary earlier this year. From a racial slur from a fellow lawmaker to unproven accusations of an affair by a political blogger, Haley still snagged the Republican nomination in a run-off in June with 65 percent votes.

Endorsed by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford, and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Haley is also part of the populist, conservative/libertarian Tea Party movement.

Republican candidate for South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley watches election results come in after the polls closed
from a hotel restaurant with her husband Michael, son Nalin and daughter Rena on Nov. 2, in Columbia, S.C.

Haley, one of the strongest fiscal conservatives in state government, was first elected to represent the 87th District in Lexington County in 2004, when, as a virtual unknown she beat the longest serving state legislator in a Republican primary.

In 2008, Haley was sent back to the state house with 83 percent of the vote - the highest percentage earned by any lawmaker facing a contested South Carolina election that year.

Born in Bamberg, South Carolina, Nikki's first job was keeping the books for her family's clothing store - at the age of 13.

She went on to graduate from Clemson University with a BS degree in accounting and following her graduation worked as Accounting Supervisor for the Charlotte, North Carolina based corporation FCR, Inc. and five of its subsidiaries.

Nikki then went back to the family business where she helped oversee its growth into a multimillion dollar operation. Nikki, whose family is running a garment showroom called Exotica International in West Columbia since 1976, had been serving as a legislator in the South Carolina state assembly since 2004. “I don’t do anything halfway - I’m in this race to win,” Nikki had told in a media interview in July. “I am confident that come November, the people of South Carolina will send me to the Governor’s Mansion.”

“When they (voters) do, I will immediately get to work to give them progress that makes them proud.”

Asked whether her Sikh background will matter in the race, she had said, “What matters most in South Carolina - and I imagine elsewhere in the country - is not the personalities of the candidates but the message they carry.”

“Our message of bringing good government back to the people of this state, creating jobs by reforming our tax code so it’s flatter and fairer, and reminding government of the value of a dollar resonates with all the people of this state.”

“I am very proud of my background and how I was raised. Just as in 2004 (when her opponents had raised the issue of background) I will hold my head up high and focus on what I can do for the people of this state.”

Nikki and her husband Michael, a full time federal technician with the South Carolina National Guard and an officer in the Army National Guard, live in Lexington with their two children, Rena, 12, and Nalin, 8.

A new website, HaleyTransition.org, has also been launched where applicants can submit resumes if they want to work in the Haley administration.

'I know what the people of this state want,' The State quoted Haley as saying.

Bob McAlister, chief of staff for late former Governor Carroll Campbell, said: 'She's earned the right to do it however she wants...She's going to have to start out the transition with people she trusts...and branch out from there.'

On the other end, six other Indian-Americans, all Democrats, bit the dust in the face of an antiestablishment vote.

In California, endorsed by US President Barack Obama, Indian-American Democrat Kamala Harris was leading the election for Attorney General of California against Republican Steve Cooley by a thin margin while this article was being written.

The winner will only be known after a couple of weeks, because absentee and provisional ballots still need to be counted, a Steve Cooley campaign spokesman estimating there are about a million votes outstanding.

Kamala will be the first woman to hold the office of Attorney General in California, once Indian Americans create history being declared a winner.

Daughter of an Indian mother and African- American father, Harris is currently the San Francisco Attorney General. She would replace Democratic Jerry Brown who won the election for Governor of California.

"Kamala has done a remarkable job in San Francisco. Now it's time to send her to Sacramento so she can get those same results for all Californians -- but she needs our help if she's going to win this race," Obama had said in his endorsement message last month.

The US President had also attended a fund raiser for Harris in California last month. Born and raised in the East Bay, Kamala was elected as the first woman District Attorney in San Francisco's history in December 2003, and as the first African-American woman and South Asian American woman in California to hold the office. She was overwhelmingly reelected to a second term in November 2007.

Kamala is the daughter of Dr. Shyamala Gopalan, a Tamilian breast cancer specialist who traveled to the United States from Chennai, to pursue her graduate studies at UC Berkeley. After attending public schools, her strong commitment to justice and public service led her to Howard University, America's oldest historically Black university, and then to the University of California and Hastings College of the Law. She is the recipient of numerous awards. California's largest legal newspaper, The Daily Journal, designated Kamala as one of the top 75 women litigators in California - the only elected official to receive that honor - as well as one of the top 100 lawyers in the state.

She was recognized as a 'Woman of Power' by the National Urban League and received the Thurgood Marshall Award from the National Black Prosecutors Association. She has been featured on the Oprah Show and in Newsweek as one of "America's 20 Most Powerful Women."

She was selected as one of 24 elected leaders from throughout the country to serve as a Rodel Fellow with the Aspen Institute.

Additionally, Kamala was elected to the Board of Directors of the California District Attorneys Association and is a Vice President of the National District Attorney's Association.

Six other Indian-origin candidates failed to enter the House of Representatives in the poll where the Democrats have suffered heavily.

Five of them were Democrats - Manan Trivedi from Pennsylvania, Ami Bera from California, Raj Goyle from Kansas, Ravi Sangisetty from Louisiana and Surya Yalamanchili from Ohio. Ashvin Lad from Illinois is the only Republican Indian American in fray.

So far only two Indian-Americans have made it to the House of Representatives -Dalip Singh Saund and Bobby Piyush Jindal.

In Pennsylvania, Trivedi, a Iraq war veteran, who was ahead in the initial counting of votes lost to Republican Jim Gerlach. While Trivedi had received 99,517 votes, Gerlach had received 131,715 of the total votes polled.

Hedge fund lawyer Reshma Saujani lost in her primary challenge to nine-term Representative Carolyn Maloney in New York, but has vowed to run again in 2012.

Amerish 'Ami' Bera, 45, a physician and medical school administrator lost to sitting Republican Congressman Dan Lungren in his California district despite raising more money than his rival.

Lawyer and State Representative, Raj Goyle, 35, of Wichita, Kansas conceded defeat to Republican Mike Pompeo who had received 59 percent votes to Goyle's 36 percent half way through the count.

Attorney Ravi Sangisetty, 28, of Houma, Louisiana, lost to Republican Jeff Landry of New Iberia, who won 64 percent of the vote. Surya Yalamanchili, 28, a Procter & Gamble marketing executive in eastern Cincinnati, with just 34 percent votes failed to dislodge Republican Jean Schmidt (59 percent) seeking her third full term in Congress.

However, two Indian-American doctors from the Republican party won State legislative elections. Dr. Prasad Srinivasan won the 31st district of the Connecticut State House of Representatives and Dr. Janak Joshi secured victory in the 14th district of the Colorado State House of Representatives.

"This is an amazing day for AAPI as we celebrate the victory of two of our own members in statehouses in Connecticut and Colorado," said Dr. Ajeet Singhvi, AAPI president.

"The rise of Indian Americans continues across all facets of life in America, including politics," he added.

Dr. Srinivasan will be the only physician in the Connecticut General Assembly while Dr. Joshi practiced medicine for more than thirty years, with both now bringing a unique health care perspective to their respective legislative bodies.

Republican nominee in Colorado's District 14, in Colorado Springs, Dr Joshi (61) became the first Indian American legislator to be elected in the state -- unopposed.

The Ahmedabad-born retired physician, won in a majority Republican district, 60 miles south of Denver.

Joshi, who immigrated to the US in 1972, after completing his residency in internal medicine and a nephrology fellowship in New York City, moved to Colorado Springs in 1978 where he practiced for 30 years until his retirement.

Joshi, who also has masters in business administration from the University of Northern Colorado in health care administration eventually ran for the At-Large City Council seat eight years ago but was unsuccessful.

But after retiring, he was stung once again by the political bug and decided to enter the fray, particularly as he felt he had gone through the grass-roots process and paid his dues and had all of the eligibility and track record to run for the vacant District 14 seat in the state legislature.

Dr. Joshi had been enthusiastically endorsed by Rep. Kent Lambert, who vacated the seat to run for the State Senate.

Dr Prasad Srinivasan, who won from Glastonbury 31st District has been serving the Hartford area for more than 30 years.

A chief pediatric resident at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn, NY, he did his fellowship in allergy and immunology at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago. He is a graduate of Baroda Medical College in India.

He is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Allergy and Immunology and founder of Free Public Health Clinic for Uninsured patients and presently serving Hartford CT area.