By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON –According to media reports on Wednesday Indian-American Democrat Pia Dandiya has won a closely contested US House seat in Florida, reported by the Decision Desk HQ and CBS News.
The victory came as Democrats secured their first Senate seat in the midterm elections in North Carolina, while Republican Vivek Ramaswamy trailed in the Ohio governor’s race.
Democrats also gained their first Senate seat in North Carolina, while Republican Vivek Ramaswamy trailed Democrat Amy Acton in the Ohio governor’s race.
According to media reports Dandiya defeated Republican Casey Askar in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District.
NBC News projected Dandiya’s victory with 51.9 per cent of the vote against Askar’s 48.1 per cent, with around 97.6 per cent of the expected votes counted.
Over 292,000 votes had been counted.
A former school principal, Dandiya contested from a newly redrawn district in South Florida. The seat was among the competitive House races that could influence control of the chamber.
“Pia focused on the issues that matter most to South Florida addressing the affordability crisis and making sure that everyone has the opportunity to achieve the American Dream,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said on X.
Indian-American Representative Pramila Jayapal congratulated Dandiya, stated she was “so excited to welcome the third South Asian American woman” to the House.
Indian-American Democrats Suhas Subramanyam and Aruna Miller were also projected to win re-election.
NBC News projected Subramanyam’s victory in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District.
The Democratic incumbent secured 61.4 per cent of the vote against Republican challenger Dave Beckwith, who received 36.5 per cent.
Around 88.7 per cent of the expected votes had been counted. Independent candidate
The victory gives Subramanyam a second two-year term.
He first entered Congress in 2025 and became Virginia’s first Indian-American member of Congress in 2024.
“The campaign is over, but the work is just beginning. I look forward to working with our community to deliver change in Washington,” Subramanyam posted on X.
In Maryland, Indian-American Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller secured another term after NBC News projected Democratic Governor Wes Moore’s re-election.
Miller, who contested alongside Moore on the Democratic ticket, defeated Republican lieutenant governor candidate Rob Krop, who ran with former state delegate Dan Cox.
Her victory ensured continued Indian-American representation in one of the country’s top state executive offices.
In Ohio, Democrat Amy Acton maintained a lead over Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in the governor’s race.
According to NBC News, Acton had secured 54.3 per cent of the vote against Ramaswamy’s 42.8 per cent, with around 46 per cent of the expected votes counted. Nearly 2.2 million votes had been tallied.
NBC News said the race was too early to call. Ramaswamy needed to win 53.5 per cent of the remaining votes to overtake Acton. Earlier, when around a quarter of the expected votes had been counted, Acton was leading by approximately 63 per cent to 34 per cent.
Ramaswamy, a biotechnology entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, was endorsed by US President Donald Trump and Governor Mike DeWine.
He is seeking to succeed DeWine, who cannot contest again because of term limits.
Acton, a physician and former Ohio health director, is the Democratic candidate in the closely watched contest.
In North Carolina, Republican Mahesh “Max” Ganorkar lost to Democratic Representative Valerie Foushee in the 4th Congressional District, NBC News projected.
Foushee received 82.9 per cent of the vote against Ganorkar’s 15.6 per cent, with around 78 per cent of the expected votes counted.
In Massachusetts, Democratic Senator Ed Markey was projected to win re-election, defeating independent Indian-American candidate Shiva Ayyadurai and Republican John Deaton.
Democrats secured their first Senate seat of the midterm elections when former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper defeated Republican Michael Whatley.
Cooper won the seat left vacant by Republican Senator Thom Tillis’s retirement.
NBC News projected his victory, with Cooper leading by around 61 per cent to 37 per cent and nearly 72 per cent of the expected votes counted.
Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff was also projected to win re-election in Georgia, defeating Republican Congressman Mike Collins.
Ossoff was leading by 60.2 per cent to 39.8 per cent, with around 71 per cent of the votes counted.
In New Hampshire, Democrat Chris Pappas won the Senate race, while Republican Senator Ashley Moody secured victory in Florida’s special election for the seat previously held by Marco Rubio, NBC News projected.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner was also projected to win another term in Virginia.
“Thank you, Virginia! I’m honored and grateful to continue serving as your United States Senator,” Warner posted on X.
In Georgia’s state legislative elections, Indian-American Democrat Jyot Singh was leading Republican Yassin Moghazy in House District 97.
Singh had received 10,491 votes (70.6 per cent), against Moghazy’s 4,375 votes (29.4 per cent), according to unofficial Gwinnett County results updated at 8:49 pm. The race had not been called.
In Texas, Indian-American Democrat Pooja Sethi was contesting against Republican Jennifer Mushtaler for the Open House District 47 seat.
The Texas Secretary of State’s results page, last updated at 7:57 pm, had not reported any votes.
In New York, Indian-American Republican Saritha Komatireddy challenged Democratic Attorney General Letitia James. No votes had been counted when polls closed at 9 pm.
In Arizona, Indian-American Democrat Amish Shah was facing Republican Jay Feely in the 1st Congressional District.
Polls in California, where Representatives Ro Khanna and Ami Bera were seeking re-election and Nithya Raman was contesting the Los Angeles mayoral election, were scheduled to close at 11 pm Eastern.
In Washington, Indian-American Representative Pramila Jayapal was also on the ballot.
Republicans entered the elections with a 53-47 majority in the Senate.
NBC News had projected 45 seats for Democrats and 34 for Republicans, including seats not up for election, with Democrats gaining one seat.
In the House of Representatives, Democrats needed a net gain of three seats to secure a majority of 218.
NBC News had projected 74 seats for Democrats and 32 for Republicans, with Democrats leading by one seat. Several closely contested seats, including Virginia’s 1st and 2nd congressional districts, were still being counted.
Democratic Governors Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and JB Pritzker of Illinois were also projected to win re-election.
Trump nor the White House had commented on the election results on X by around 9 pm.
