Mid-Term Polls Become A Hot Potato For American Lawmakers: They Just Can’t Digest The ‘Samosa Brigade’

Indian-American lawmakers in the US Congress - Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna in the House of Representatives and Kamala Harris in the Senate are termed the ‘Samosa Brigade’ by Krishnamoorthi. With all four Representatives finishing their two-year term and going for re-election in Tuesday’s midterms and dozen more Indian-Americans on the ballot, the brigade is all set to grow.

There is hope with the retirement of 42 Congressmen in the election cycle. But there is also the “Congress Stagnation”, a term referring to the extremely high rate of incumbency re-election , reports Economic Times.

Some of the Indian-Americans include Sri Kulkarni, a US Foreign Service officer, who resigned to challenge Republican Pete Olson in Texas’ 22nd Congressional district. Even though Olson is expected to retain his seat, such is the strength and vigour of Kulkarni’s polyglotic threat, that Olson’s generally global credits, were threatened and resorted to naming Kulkarni as an 'Indian-American carpetbagger’. This is in spite of Kulkarni tracing his ancestry from his mother’s side to Sam Houston, the hero of the 'Texas revolution.

Some other candidates include Hiral Tipirneni and Anita Malik, two Indian-Americans fighting the Republican fortress of Arizona. Tipirneni’s strength is such is that she raised more money than her opponent and is trailing by a mere four points to Republican Debbi Lesko. Lesko was so threatened that she started using ‘fake doctor’ signs to discredit Tipirneni, necessitating an intervention from the Arizona Medical Political Action Committee to stop it under insult to the medical profession.

The four incumbent Indian-Americans Democrats are expected to retain their seats. Dr Ami Bera of California’S 7th district, having won the past three elections, is expected to win this time against his opponent, who is a marine. In California’s 17th district, Ro Khanna, whose constituency covers most of Silicon Valley, is expected to win again in his second term. Pramila Jayapal in Washinton’s 7th District is expected to win too, considering its a Democrat’s fortress.