WASHINGTON
: All four
House members
of the so-called Samosa Caucus -- a group of Indian-American lawmakers—were re-elected in Congressional elections held concurrently with the Presidential polls, although the cohort failed to add to its number.
Indian-American lawmakers -- Dr Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Pramila Jayapal, and Ro Khanna and all
Democrats
– were re-elected in a House where
the Democratic Party
retained its majority, albeit with a reduced margin. Two prospective additions to the Caucus – Sri Preston Kulkarni in Texas who was running for a House seat, and Sara Gideon in Maine, running for Senate – came up short even though pollsters had put them ahead.
Sri Preston Kulkarni, a former state department official, polled 44 per cent votes (175,000 votes) in a congressional district outside Houston to lose to his Republican opponent who with 204,000 votes, polled 51 per cent of the turnout
Indian-American Republican candidate for the Senate Rik Mehta, polled 38 per cent votes to lose to Cory Booker (60 per cent), in a one-sided contest in New Jersey. In Maine, Sara Gideon was down 8 per cent against sitting Republican Senator Susan Collins, who was widely expected to lose as per pre-election surveys that went wrong in many cases.
Kamala Harris will remain a senator from California if the Democratic ticket loses, but if it wins, Governor Gavin Newsom will appoint a two-year replacement (the remainder of Harris' six-year term) before an election.