Can you all feel the excitement in the air? I surely can. Election day is tomorrow and I am sure the vast majority of you will be voting (well, I mean those of you that haven’t already voted).
So which desis should we keep an eye on? The biggest hope is Rano Singh in Arizona but Ennis will cover her in more depth a bit later so I am going to talk about a few others of note (although there are quite a few more that I don’t have time to cover):
1) Bobby Jindal (R)- Jindal is considered a safe bet for re-election in Louisiana:
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Metairie, is running against a trio of challengers — Metairie Democrats David Gereighty of Metairie and Stacey Tallitcsh, as well as River Ridge Libertarian Peter Beary.
The 1st District generally covers the suburban areas around New Orleans and the parishes to the north and west.
Jindal, who ran an unsuccessful race for governor in 2003 and is considered a strong contender for a re-match with Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco in next year’s race, raised about $2.5 million for the race.
While Jindal has taken care of buying his ad time, yard signs and other campaign staples, he has also donated a few hundred thousand to the Republican Party at the state and national level, as well as Republican candidates in Louisiana and other states.
Jindal has run his campaign on the issues of economic development and job growth, winning the war on terror, improving health-care access and using the rebuilding of the state in the wake of Katrina and Rita as a platform to make improvements that were needed before the storms. [Link]
For Jindal this is just a dress rehearsal. He is spreading his wealth to curry favor with other Louisiana politicians because he will definitely make a play for Governor Blanco’s job.
2) Raj Peter Bhakta (R)- As you may recall SM interviewed Bhakta (a Congressional candidate) earlier this year.
Bhakta is the son of Indian and Irish immigrants who has made the elimination of Section 8 public housing and erection of a border fence his central tenets.
To Tom Ellis, the Republican chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, he’s “a breath of fresh air,” a young candidate with ideas and panache who is recognizable to Ellis’ teenage daughters. Bhakta says he’s a reformer – even President Bush is a target – for honest government and fiscal responsibility.
To [his opponent Allison] Schwartz, Bhakta is novelty and political prankster whose sartorial statements – salmon sport coat, bow ties – mask a flimsy resume that includes two drunken-driving arrests.
His greatest novelty came down on the border. [Link]
In case any of you missed it, here is an engaging clip of a recent debate between Bhakta and Schwartz.
3) Neeraj Nigam (I)- Independent candidate Nigam is running for U.S. Congress in a district that is in the heart of George Allen’s “Real Virginia.”
During a televised debate featuring congressional candidates from Virginia’s 10th District, software analyst Neeraj Nigam walked up to the lectern, and said, “While meeting with the residents of my district, I was asked many times, ‘In what moment of insanity did you decide to run?'” Amid appreciative laughter, the Independent candidate went on to make an impassioned speech on why he is the best choice for his district. [Link]
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4) Kumar Barve (D)- Kumar is the current majority leader of the Maryland State House and is being endorsed by the Washington Post.
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Kumar Barve |
IT’S NO SEA change in the making, but Montgomery County’s state legislative delegation will have a new look after Tuesday. The shifts are unlikely to swell the lean minority of Republicans, however, given the blueness of Maryland and the greenness of the GOP field of candidates. Here are our recommendations for the contested races…DISTRICT 17: The Democratic candidates for the House offer exceptional skills: Kumar P. Barve, the bright and effective House majority leader; Luiz R.S. Simmons, a knowledgeable, savvy veteran; and Jim Gilchrist , a student of state government who shows potential as an advocate for the district’s concerns. [Link]
5) Dilip Paliath (R)- I previous covered Paliath here. He, like Barve, is running for the Maryland State House:
In Maryland, another state on the American east coast, Dilip Paliath is fighting as anIndependent[Note: this article is incorrect. He is Republican] for the state legislature. The 35-year-old lawyer from Pikesville says, “I know that I can help make Maryland a better place by improving education, increasing job opportunities, making our streets safer, and meeting our responsibilities to seniors, children and taxpayers…” [Link]
6) Jay Goyal (D)- Goyal is running for the Ohio State House:
APA activists and Ohio democratic leaders gathered last month [July] to fete Jay Goyal, an Ohio native whose family hails from India, running for an Ohio state representative seat in the 73rd District…Goyal recently won the democratic primary in May by 61 percent.
During the primary, Goyal ran an extensive grassroots campaign. [Link]
Goyal also has the endorsement of U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown who is leading in the polls in Ohio (so we may see a coat tail effect):
“I am confident that Jay will become the first Indian American, and Asian American, elected at the state level in Ohio.“
— Congressman Sherrod Brown… [Link]
7) Swati Dandekar (D)- Dandekar is running in Iowa’s House District 36:
When my sons were young, I stayed home because they were my priority. But I really wanted to be involved in the community so I volunteered and taught at the elementary school. Soon after, I started to teach high school. Next, I became chair of the Parents Teachers Organization (PTO).
During the 1992-1993 school year, the Linn-Mar School District introduced a program called Outcome Based Education (OBE). It sounded great on paper, but I felt it could not be implemented without drastically changing the program and weakening the curriculum that was already in place. I went in front of the Linn-Mar School Board and convinced them not to go with the program…<
p>Dick Myers and other leaders in the Democratic Party were watching me at the time. I ran for the Iowa Association of School Boards and won by a big margin. In 2000, Governor Tom Vilsack appointed me to the Vision Iowa Board, an economic development board focusing on the quality of life of our state. Democratic Minority Leader Dick Myers called and encouraged me to run as a representative for District 36. The opportunity was open and interesting to me, so I ran. [Link]
Like I said, these are just some of the many races I’m going to be watching. Do any of you know of state level Pakistani, Bangladeshi, or Sri Lankan American candidates that we should keep an eye on? Please leave comments informing us of races and ballot measures that you will be especially interested in following tomorrow!
I will be practically dancing down the street on my way to the polls here in VA. Give a shoutout to coach as she votes “Mr. Macaca” AKA George Allen outta office!
you said “curry favor”
Conflation of some of the most recent topics on this board; Name/Identities/(Religion) /a darker shade of brown. The senate race IÂ’m keeping an eye on Keith Ellison in Minnesota. The Desi Angle? slowly but surely we are moving to the day when one descriptive word does not define your entire identity
Since there’s been a lot of talk about the significance of names lately, would Piyush Jindal, only the second desi ever to win a seat to Congress in the United States, have a chance of winning political office if he didn’t run as “Bobby?”
No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people, so I’ll wager big “no”.
he is listed on the ballot as Piyush “Bobby” Jindal.
You sure about that? On the online sample ballot for the Jefferson Parish precinct in Louisiana’s First Congressional District, it just says: “Bobby” Jindal. I can’t say I’ve seen the actual paper ballot, but it would be odd if it differed.
At a minimum, the quotes raise intrigue. If I was a voter there and didn’t know his real name, I’d be curious.
No one outside of the Desis in the New Orleans area know or really care about Jindal’s real name. He is listed just as Bobby on the ballot but the quotes don’t raise many eyebrows. Every southern politician has one or more ridiculous nicknames that appear in quotes alongside their legal names on the ballot.
This blog suddenly seems too desi to me. I hope all sepia readers keep from placing too much importance on their skin color. I would never vote for Bobby Jindal just because of what he looks like; in this case, I’m a democrat before a South Asian.
There’s also Dr. AJ Sekhon (D) running for the House in California’s 2nd district. He’s running against a 20-yr incumbent in a strongly Republican leaning district, but Esquire Magazine has endorsed him, so I guess there’s hope 😉
I hope all sepia readers keep from placing too much importance on their skin color. I would never vote for Bobby Jindal just because of what he looks like; in this case,
jindal is too dark, the black feller!
Satveer Chaudhary is running for re-election for his State House seat in Minnesota.
damn, hip hop pughster. 2nd District has Yuba (Jooba) City & Marysville where Punjabi lineage runs deeper than the roots in Didar Singh Bain’s peach tree’s. What are his chances? Any poll numbers?
I had no idea there was another desi (let alone another Sikh) running for nationwide office. I don’t think he showed up in the lists that I’ve seen
Oh – I know who that is, that’s Colonel Sekhon, isn’t it?
Whoa. Where the heck does it say you should vote for him? Perhaps you should check our archives. I wouldn’t vote for him either. I simply said that these were races I’d be watching with interest. Especially since the margin of victory in his race has implications in the governor’s race. If you somehow read in my post that you should vote for these people because they were brown then please read again.
abhi, first, you tell everyone that they can only be south asian and now you are saying that a real south asian has to be a democrat! damn you evil abhi, damn you!!!
and where do you get off talking about american elections? this is a blog all about india and indian culture after all.
and oh, yo momma….!
You’d better vote for my Momma, tomorrow, if you know what’s good for you.
…saffron
razib, call me
koosh, already endorsed harold ford jr.:
I want to Harlold Ford Jr. to win in Tennessee to show that there’s no harm in a man of color having a taste for white women. This is personal, I want my life choices to be validated!
(and hey, if a pink-faced high yellow brother like Harold is raising eyebrows what does that say about Mr. Cinnamon adding a little flavor to whole milk?)
Already voted (absentee because I’m on call tomorrow) against George Allen! Hope everyone is planning to go to the polls tomorrow, wherever you live. In case anyone needs inspiration my elderly aunt who has heart failure walks a mile (or 1.6 kilometres;) )to the polls in India for every election. She was an adult in 1947 and remembers being disenfranchised so takes her voting rights seriously. I know too many people who aren’t going to vote.
Cha[n]d Khan is running for State Representative in Texas’s 126th as Democrat. He’s got a good chance to win. See http://www.vote4khan.com.
Unfortunately, the TN race is a lot like the VA race in that no matter who wins, the people lose. The only question is who you’re gonna lose less with.
I am personally acquainted with Ford, Jr. from the Memphis social scene. The guy is pure slime. His shotgun-toting dad is only slightly worse. It would be so odd if he inherits Bill Frist’s seat. Talk about surreal!
Oops. Sorry, I’m conflating Harold Ford, Sr. with John Ford. Same crazy family, though.
This is Harold, Sr:
After two trials, a mostly white jury found JuniorÂ’s father, Harold Ford Sr., not guilty in 1993 of 18 counts of conspiracy, bank and mail fraud for accepting what prosecutors claimed was $1.2 million in bogus loans given to him by banker Jake Butcher in return for Ford delivering votes for ButcherÂ’s unsuccessful gubernatorial bid in 1978. At the time of his two trials, Ford claimed prosecutors were racists, liars and cowards. Attorneys on both sides in FordÂ’s second trial were so worried there would be rioting in Memphis if Ford was found guilty that they asked the judge to postpone the juryÂ’s verdict until after Martin Luther King Day. Ford Sr. now lives in Miami with a second family that includes two small children.
This is John Ford:
But the real loose screw in the family is John Ford, whom other members of the family have tried to distance themselves from. The warning signs were apparent early on: in 1974, John Ford told a fellow city council member to “go to hell.” Her crime? She dared to tell John Ford he’d parked across two parking spaces outside City Hall. In 1990, John Ford, by then a state senator, was tried and acquitted of shooting at a Dallas truck driver. In 1996, he was found guilty of sexually harassing an employee while he was Shelby County General Sessions clerk. In 1997, Ford agreed to enter a diversion program after waving a shotgun at utility workers he wanted off his property. In 2000, The Commercial Appeal published a transcript of Ford using 68 curse words during a short conversation with reporter Marc Perrusquia as Perrusquia questioned him about an allegation that he tried to limit the scope of an audit of a nonprofit that controlled millions of public dollars for children’s day care services. And last spring, John Ford was one of five state lawmakers indicted in the Tennessee Waltz sting. Ford, who resigned from the state Senate, has been accused of taking $55,000 to help a fake electronics company called E-Cycle Management pass bills in the state legislature. One of his attorneys said Ford would be cleared of charges by the end of this year. But his trial has been moved to February to avoid election season. John Ford also has a second family he lives with in Memphis.
(Source)
Holler for Jay Goyal! Although I would be even more excited if I could be voting for Subodh Chandra on tomorrow’s ballot, I’m still very excited for Goyal’s chances. He’s been endorsed by the Mansfield local paper, and getting a lot of great commentary from citizens of Mansfield.
Here’s hoping that we turn around Ohio, and open the door for more Asian Americans!
P.S. Speaking of Subodh, before you go out and vote tomorrow, make sure you check the Voter ID rules one more time… crazy changes are happening across the country (especially in Ohio!), and you don’t want to get caught at the polls without the right identification.
P.Bobby sounds way cooler than Piyush.
two more in Cali
http://www.votethakker.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=47
http://www.peterthottam.com/peter_thottam_is_an_antiwar_sta.htm
Hey to the writer of this: just so you know, Raj Goyle is also running for state house in good ole’ kansas. I had the honor of meeting this brilliant individual when he came to Duke U. to speak to a group of students about the importance of politics. Thanks for the info about all the other candidates! http://www.rajforkansas.com/
Yep, we’ll keep an eye on him too
Great Tipoff… Now that Jay is in office, we need to follow the trends…