Via the Swing State Project that is monitoring the results here:
12:42am: The AP calls PA-06 (D) for Manan Trivedi and PA-17 (R) for Dave Argall.12:22am: Trivedi wins! 100% in according to the AP, and he’s up 21,338 to 20,667, a 50.8% to 49.2% victory! WOOHOO!!!! GREAT NIGHT!
12:12am: Manan Trivedi is up 672 votes, and it looks like there are very few if any precincts outstanding. Hard to tell, though, since the SoS doesn’t say, and AP is lagging. [Link]
As I said last night:
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… but we know with absolute certainty that it will come down to anywhere from a couple thousand to a couple hundred votes (more likely the latter). [SM]
I can’t help but reflect on this comment from last September when Trivedi announced:
…it is not a good idea for us as South Asians to support candidates simply because of who they are. We have to be more sophisticated and look realistically at their chances at winning. Does it make sense for us to invest our time and money in a candidate who has no support locally and whose only campaign strategy is to raise money from the South Asian community? No.
As a proud supporter of Raj Goyle’s congressional run in Kansas, I know that it takes time to lay the groundwork for a political run for office. For him, and for Trivedi, the sky is and should be the limit. But, they have to be smart about planning long-term strategies to create the local and political groundwork for these races. It’s too bad Trivedi has not done so. [SM]
There is a lesson here.
Congrats to Manan. Come November, wish you good luck – to go all the way. Since it is a private blog (?) I can say something. No?
There’s probably also a lesson somewheree in not supporting a candidate just because he has similar pigmentation to you. That’s the identity politics we’ve devolved to. Beautiful. Sarajevo, here we come.
I’ll note briefly that India at least seems to have been moving away from the tribalism that we’re moving INTO.
Great times ahead.
fdfd: Manan is a very strong progressive. The progressive community was firmly behind him.
Come back when Abhi is cheering Haley in South Carolina with the same fervor.
There’s probably also a lesson somewheree in not supporting a candidate just because he has similar pigmentation to you. That’s the identity politics we’ve devolved to. Beautiful. Sarajevo, here we come.
I think if you look at earlier posts related Manan Trivedi and other South Asian candidates we’ve written about, we’ve been careful to avoid that.
There was a lot of ambivalence in our various posts about Bobby Jindal, for instance, even though his was a very high profile race and a breakthrough for Indian Americans in elected office. And as Pagal Aadmi hints, I doubt you’ll see much enthusiasm around here for Nikki Haley (except perhaps from Vinod).
I’m not saying there isn’t some level of co-ethnic cheerleading in some of our coverage of these candidates, but it’s no different from Greek-Americans supporting candidates with Greek names, etc. The Indian American community is simply one of many ethnic constituencies in the American political landscape now, and successful politicians generally learn how to work both within and across community lines.
Great news,congrats to Manan.
I think that guy is Abhi’s cousin, so I dont see anything wrong with him being proud of him. Unless you think being proud of people close to you is a dangerous path to ride on?
The blatant triumphalism made me do it.
Cheering on your cousin doesn’t seem like a big deal to me in a country of 300M people and a sort of light “yeah for Desis!” is okay too but the fact is that the whole country has gone nuts over the past few years into an insane level of balkanization that seriously threatens the unity of our people and this post unfortunately read as though it was taken as a given that South Asians should support south Asians and therefore…the various things that the post mentioned.
In my own experience I’ve found that Indians tend to be less into identity politics on a philosophical level (if not always a practical one) and therefore I found this post and it’s unstated assumptions depressing.
Frankly, I find many of the above comments to be baffling. They are, after all, being made on a blog devoted to South Asian-ness. If you can’t be proud to see a brother (and one who isn’t ashamed to be South-Asian-American, and isn’t an opponent of others’ civil rights either) win, then just go to the RNC’s website and hang out with Michael Steele. You’ll find a lot in common with him.
I, for one, am dancing a jig and plan to do everything I can to ensure that Goyle and Trivedi (and Yalamanchili as he proves viability for the general election) win. We owe it to our kids to show them that the sky is the limit for them in this country and that they owe this country their talents in public service. Who you callin’ “macaca,” indeed?
Abhi, congratulations and hugs to all of your family.
To celebrate Manan’s win properly, I am putting a challenge grant on the table. For every Mutineer who confirms and sends me via email to Subodh DOT Chandra AT StanfordAlumni.org a new receipt for a contribution of at least $25 to Trivedi’s campaign, I will contribute, dollar-for-dollar, the same amount: http://www.trivediforcongress.com/
Obviously subject to the federal contribution limit. And try to do more: $50, $100, $150, $200–whatever you can afford.
Iraq War vet, doctor, policy wonk, father, brings a diverse background. What more can you ask for in a new leader and legislator for this century?
Voted for the guy on tuesday (honestly, I don’t vote in primaries, but him being desi did the trick). He does have an impressive if unproven resume, although, I’m not sure whether 3 months in Iraq makes one a war ‘veteran’, technicalities aside. But it takes gumption to even consider standing in this somewhat socially conservative district.
Most of the desis (and there are many!)in this district are apolitical, and rarely take interest in local politics. Hopefully, Manan’s candidacy will change this.
Yeah Manan! Though I don’t live anywhere near Chester, PA, I contributed to his campaign. Firstly, because he is Abhi’s cousin (JK!!), but mostly because I liked his discourse on healthcare policy. We need more calm and rational voices. Also, the fact that he and his wife just had a baby, and he was able to hold his campaign together inspite of having a newborn, earns him my support. Go beta! He is a role model. (And, no I am not related to Manan or Abhi or Yo Dad).