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Three Indian Americans successful in U.S. polls By Vasantha Arora, Indo-Asian News Service Washington, Nov 7 (IANS) A record number of 28 Indian Americans contested for various elected offices in the U.S. polls - six for Congress and many for state assemblies - but only three were successful. The successful Indian American candidates in Tuesday's polls were Kumar Barve (Maryland), Swati Dandekar (Iowa) and Satveer Chaudhary (Minnesota). All three contested for seats in their respective state assemblies on Democratic Party ticket. All the six Indian Americans in the fray for Congress lost their bid, dashing the hopes of the community to have a representative in the U.S. Congress. They were Ayesha F. Nariman (New York), D.C. Amarsinghe (Virginia), Vij Pawar (New Jersey), Stuart Johnson and Syed R. Mahmood (both California) -- all of who contested for the House of Representatives -- and Venkat Challa (North Carolina), the lone Indian American who tried his luck for the U.S. Senate. Challa, Pawar and Nariman were Democratic Party nominees while the Republicans fielded Johnson and Mahmood. Amarsinghe was an independent who contested on the Green party ticket. Following are the poll results for Indian American candidates, courtesy Indian American Leadership Incubator as of Thursday: Winners: Swati Dandekar, Democratic candidate for 36th district seat in the Iowa State Assembly. Won with 57.4 percent (6,727) of vote. Born in India, Swati has been a resident of Marion, Iowa, for 27 years, and has been an active member of the Iowa Association of School Boards. Kumar Barve, Democratic candidate for the 17th district seat in the Maryland House of Delegates. Won with 24.97 percent (18,685) of vote. As the longest serving elected official of Indian origin, Barve ran for re-election in District 17 of the Maryland House of Delegates. Kumar was first elected in 1990 and is now a member of the powerful House Committee on Economic Matters. Satveer Chaudhary, Democratic candidate for the 52nd district seat in the Minnesota State Senate. Won with 55.47 percent (18,646) of vote. Chaudhary is the highest-ranking Indian American elected official in the U.S., the first Asian American elected in Minnesota's history and the youngest State Senator in Minnesota. Those who made a bid but lost: Stuart Johnson, Republican candidate for the House of Representatives. Lost with 35 percent (46,348) of vote. Vij Pawar, Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives. Lost with 26 percent (47,311) of vote/99 percent of precincts reporting. Ayesha Nariman, Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives. Lost with 22 percent (39,408) of vote/99 percent of precincts reporting. Syed Mahmood, Republican candidate for the House of Representatives. Lost with 22 percent (20,398) of vote/95 percent precincts reporting. D.C. Amarsinghe, Green Party candidate for House of Representatives. Lost with 16 percent (20,540) of vote. Venkat Challa (North Carolina) for the U.S. Senate lost, by how many votes is unclear. Rahul Mahajan, Green Party candidate for Texas governor. Lost with 1 percent (29,599) of vote/86 percent of precincts reporting. Kamal Jain, Libertarian candidate for Massachusetts State Auditor. Lost with 7 percent (128,683) of vote/97 percent of precincts reporting. Sheenu Srinivasan, Democratic candidate for State Assembly, Connecticut. Lost with 34.7 percent (3,627) of vote. "Nanjun" Nanjundappa, Democratic candidate for California State Assembly. Lost with 28.3 percent (18,331) of vote/92 percent of precincts reporting. Shawn Aranha, Democratic candidate for Illinois House of Representatives. Lost with 31 percent (11,461) of vote. S. Gopal Raju, Democratic candidate for Indiana State House. Lost with 24.3 percent (802) of vote/46 percent of precincts reporting. Prameela Kaza, Democratic candidate for Delaware State Assembly. Lost with 36.8 percent (1,845) of vote. Rina Patel, candidate for Florida State Senate. Lost with 0 percent (0) of vote. Satro Narayan, candidate for Iowa State Senate. Lost with 10 percent (2,040) of vote. Deepka Lalwani, candidate for Milpitas City Council, California. Lost with 18.4 percent (2,924) of vote. Shyam Chetal, candidate for Fremont City Council, California. Lost with 2.3 percent (1,154) of vote/96 percent of precincts reporting. Lalit Mathur, candidate for Fremont City Council, California. Lost with 6.2 percent (3,164) of vote/96 percent of precincts reporting. Neil Malhotra, candidate for Saratoga City Council, California. Lost with 14.2 percent (3,197) of vote. Harry Sidhu, candidate for Anaheim City Council, California. Lost with 11 percent (6,526) of vote/81 percent of precincts reporting. Alkesh Desai, candidate for Berryessa Union School District School Board, California. Lost with 14.1 percent (4,470) of vote. Deepak Chopra, candidate for Monte Sereno City Council, California. Lost with 17.1 percent (484) of vote. Gagan Singh, candidate for West Valley/Mission Board of Trustees (District 2), California. Lost with 30.3 percent (17,356) of vote Surjit Dulai, candidate for Michigan State University Board of Trustees. Lost with 0.8 percent (1,338) of vote Uma Sengupta, Democrat candidate for 25th Assembly District, Queens, New York also lost. --Indo-Asian News Service ---------------------------------------------------------- What's On In Goa (WOIG): Nov 05 onwards: Wendell Rodrigues Festival. Altinho, Panjim Nov 05 Bobbin lace-making training, Don Bosco's Panjim (till 17.11) Nov 06 Richard Stallman, free software guru, speaks Farmagudi 4 pm Nov 06 Bob Fitts, gospel music singer, Navelim grounds, 6 pm Nov 06 Fr Britto's health courses, Pilar. Till 10.11. Later Chicalim. Nov 06 ArtHouse, Calangute: Chaitali's acrylics on canvas till 19.11 Nov 07 Creative science, for children, Goa Sc Centre (till 16.11) Nov 17 Goan Engineers and Assoc meet, at Pickering, Canada. Nov 20 Fr Agnelo's 75th death anniversary, Pilar Dec 01 Two day conference, Goa Agenda. IT For Society. (Ends 2.12) Every Sunday: Music therapy sessions at Moira, 5 pm. 278, N.Portugal ----------------------------------------------------------
