Washington: In a landmark evening for the South Asian diaspora, three prominent candidates of Indian and broader South Asian heritage claimed resounding victories in high-stakes US elections, underscoring the community’s growing political clout.
From New York to Virginia and Ohio, three Indian-origin politicians, Zohran Mamdani, Ghazala Hashmi and Aftab Pureval have scored major electoral victories, each making history in their respective races.
Leading the charge was Mamdani, the 34-year-old Ugandan-born son of acclaimed Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and academic Mahmood Mamdani.
With almost 90 per cent of the votes counted, Mamdani won decisively in the New York City mayoral race, defeating Independent challenger and former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Mamdani, a Democratic socialist and Queens assemblyman, captured over 50 per cent of the vote, translating to over one million ballots in a turnout that shattered records with more than two million total voters, the highest in over five decades.
His victory marks him as the city’s first Muslim mayor and first of South Asian descent, a milestone hailed by supporters as a beacon for immigrant communities.
In Virginia, state senator Ghazala Hashmi scored a historic victory in the lieutenant governor’s race, becoming the first Muslim woman elected to a statewide office in the US.
The Associated Press projected Hashmi winning 53 per cent to Republican John Reid’s 47 per cent. Hashmi, who made history in 2019 as the first Muslim and South Asian woman in the Virginia legislature, will now hold one of the top executive positions in the state.
Ghazala Hashmi was born in Hyderabad in 1964 and relocated to the US with her mother and older brother at the age of four.
In Ohio, Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval won re-election, securing over 79 per cent of the counted votes, according to early results with 90 per cent of precincts reporting.
Pureval, who is of Indian and Tibetan heritage, defeated Republican challenger Cory Bowman, the half-brother of US Vice President J.D. Vance.
The victories of Mamdani, Hashmi and Pureval underscored the growing influence of Indian-American and South Asian leaders in US politics from city halls to state capitals, marking a night of historic firsts for the community.
