By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Indian-American Democrats Suhas Subramanyam and Aruna Miller on Wednesday have secured re-election victories in the 2026 US midterm elections, marking early successes for Indian-origin candidates as the first results emerged on Tuesday.
Subramanyam won Virginia’s 10th Congressional District by a comfortable margin, Miller retained her position as Maryland’s Lieutenant Governor.
Indian-American Democrat Pia Dandiya was leading a closely contested congressional race in Florida, while Republican Vivek Ramaswamy was trailing in Ohio’s governor’s race.
According to media reports Indian-American Democrat Suhas Subramanyam won re-election to the US House of Representatives from Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, defeating Republican challenger Dave T Beckwith.
Subramanyam secured 63.16 per cent of the vote, polling 1,73,106 votes, against Beckwith’s 34.66 per cent, or 94,990 votes.
Independent candidate Ahsen Mujeeb Malik finished third with 1.99 per cent of the vote, receiving 5,444 votes. Write-in candidates accounted for the remaining 0.19 per cent.
Subramanyam’s re-election marks another milestone in his political career. He became the first Indian-American to represent Virginia’s 10th Congressional District in 2024.
He urged Indian-Americans to participate actively in the elections.
“Well, come out and vote. Make your voice heard. Your vote matters more than ever, especially at a time when we’re seeing record hate in our community, in our country,” he said.
He also encouraged members of the Indian-American community to enter politics, drawing from his own experience of contesting and winning elections.
“I ran for office and I won. You can too. If you want to get involved in the political process, now is the time. It’s more important than ever,” he added.
The Congressman also criticized the functioning of the US Congress, saying people were dissatisfied with representatives who prioritized the President over ordinary citizens.
He said Democrats would work towards restoring healthcare and food assistance and ensuring that public resources benefited Americans.
Subramanyam was born in Virginia in 1979 to Indian immigrant parents, has a strong background in law and public service. His mother is from Bengaluru, while his father grew up in Chennai and Secunderabad.
Alawyer by profession, he holds degrees from Tulane University and Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law.
He worked as a technology policy adviser in the White House under former President Barack Obama.
Subramanyam entered electoral politics in 2019 after being elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. He subsequently served in the state Senate from 2023 to 2024 before entering the US House of Representatives in 2024, succeeding retiring Democratic representative Jennifer Wexton.
He criticized President Donald Trump’s administration over rising living costs, healthcare concerns and its treatment of federal employees. He also raised issues affecting Indian professionals, including green card backlogs and challenges related to the H-1B visa programme.
Democratic Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller secured another term in Maryland after NBC News projected Governor Wes Moore’s re-election.
Miller, who contested alongside Moore on the Democratic ticket, defeated Republican lieutenant governor candidate Rob Krop, who ran alongside former state delegate Dan Cox.
Her re-election ensures the continued representation of an Indian-American in one of Maryland’s highest executive offices.
The early results provided a boost to Indian-American Democrats, although several closely contested races involving candidates of Indian origin remained undecided.
In Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, Indian-American Democrat Pia Dandiya was leading Republican Casey Askar by approximately 52 per cent to 48 per cent, with around 94 per cent of the expected votes counted, according to NBC News.
Nearly 2.8 lakh votes had been counted in the contest. However, NBC News had not projected a winner, even as Dandiya maintained an advantage with relatively few votes remaining.
A former school principal, Dandiya is seeking to enter Congress from a newly redrawn South Florida district. The contest is among the closely watched House races that could influence control of the chamber.
Indian-American Republican Vivek Ramaswamy was trailing Democratic candidate Amy Acton in Ohio’s governor’s race.
Acton had secured approximately 63 per cent of the vote against Ramaswamy’s 34 per cent, with around one-quarter of the expected votes counted, according to NBC News. Nearly 12 lakh votes had been counted at that stage.
The network said it was too early to declare a winner.
Ramaswamy, a biotechnology entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump, is contesting to succeed term-limited Republican Governor Mike DeWine.
His Democratic rival, Acton, is a physician and former Ohio health director.
In Massachusetts, Democratic Senator Ed Markey was projected to win re-election, defeating independent Indian-American candidate Shiva Ayyadurai and Republican challenger John Deaton.
In another early result, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff was projected to win re-election in Georgia, defeating Republican Congressman Mike Collins.
Indian-American Democrat Jyot Singh was holding an early lead over Republican Yassin Moghazy in Georgia’s state legislative election for House District 97. However, vote counting was still underway.
Other Indian-American candidates, including Republican Mahesh Ganorkar in North Carolina and Democrat Pooja Sethi in Texas, were also awaiting definitive results.
The November 3 midterm elections will decide the composition of the 435-member US House of Representatives, 35 Senate seats, governorships, state legislatures and several local offices.
The midterm was held halfway through Trump’s second presidential term, the elections are being closely watched as an indication of public opinion on his administration and its policies.
