Kamala Harris of California is the first senator of Indian origin to be elected to the United States Senate. (File)
Washington:
Indian-born candidates Rikin Mehta and Sara Gideon lost their race for the US Senate in New Jersey and Maine respectively, according to US media projections Tuesday night.
Born to an Indian father and an Armenian mother, Ms. Gideon, the current Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, lost to Republican Senator Susan Collins.
Ms. Collins received 4,09,974 votes against 3,39,364 bagged by Ms. Gideon. It was Ms Collins’ fifth consecutive victory. In her remarks, she publicly thanked Ms Gideon for “a very kind call,” conceding the race.
Ms Gideon’s father immigrated from India and worked as a pediatrician in Rhode Island, where Ms Gideon, the youngest of four children, grew up. She moved to Maine after meeting her husband Ben, a lawyer specializing in the personal injury lawsuit for the Berman & Simons law firm.
“While this election is over, we must work together to build a better future, a future where everyone has access to the health care they can afford, where we tackle our climate crisis head-on and where we restore our economy by putting workers in our communities first, ”Ms. Gideon said in her remarks.
“I am proud of the campaign we have waged and whatever the outcome, we have together built a movement that will help us move forward for years to come,” she said.
Republican Rick Mehta lost the election to incumbent Democratic President Cory Booker. Booker got 60.4% of the vote against 38% of Mr. Mehta.
Kamala Harris of California is the first senator of Indian origin to be elected to the United States Senate.
This election year, Ms Harris, 56, made history as the Democratic Party’s first Indian-born vice-presidential candidate. She is also the very first black and African American to run for vice-president of a major political party.
A former head of the United States Food and Drug Administration, Mehta was the first American Indian to win the GOP Senate primary in New Jersey. A biotechnology entrepreneur, innovator, health policy expert and pharmacist and licensed lawyer, Mehta received her BS in Pharmacy from Rutgers University and her Pharm.D from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
