The 2016 general elections have just ended. The President is still to assume office. However, speculations are on as to who will succeed or will be the nominee to fight President-elect Donald Trump in 2020. There are several aspirants and leading candidates who are likely to be the Democratic Party nominee in the 2020 general elections.

Kamala Harris, the first Indian-American to be elected to the US Senate, is a potential Democratic presidential candidate for 2020 elections, Washington Post, a leading American newspaper stated last week. Harris, 51, whose mother was from Chennai and father from Jamaica, is one among the six Democratic leaders, whom The Washington Post said are the top contenders to bag the party’s nomination for the 2020 presidential elections.

Interestingly four of these are women. The other three being outgoing First Lady Michelle Obama, Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from New York. Other two potential Democratic presidential candidates according to the US daily are Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey and Governor John Hickenlooper from Colorado.

“Harris will not officially become a US senator from California for more than a month, but she is already regarded as national-candidate material in four years,” Washington Post columnist Chris Cillizza wrote in his article.

“It is not hard to see why. She is the first African American woman elected to the Senate since Carol Moseley Braun in 1992. Harris also represents the largest and most Democratic state in the country, a huge financial launchpad to a presidential bid,” he said, noting that through mid-October, she had raised more than $13 million for her Senate candidacy.

“Her law-and-order background – she was elected and reelected attorney general in California – also will appeal to many Democrats. Whether Harris wants to – or will be ready to run for national office so soon after being elected to the Senate remains to be seen,” Cillizza said.

Harris is a two-term popular Attorney General of California. She was elected to the United States Senate from California in a landslide. She was endorsed by outgoing US President Barack Obama, in her Senate race.

The Washington Post columnist also said First Lady Michelle has true star power. “She gave the two best political speeches of the past two years – the first at the Democratic National Convention in July, the second in New Hampshire in the fall, an emotional condemnation of Trump’s America,” he said.

“Obama has one thing – with the possible exception of Booker – that the rest of the people on this list lack: true star power. She would start the race not only totally known by base Democrats but also absolutely beloved. The issue for Obama is that being a candidate in your own right is very different from being a surrogate for a candidate,” he wrote. However, Obama in the past has said she has no interest in running for office.

“No matter how many people said I couldn’t do it, I won my races for District Attorney and Attorney General,” Harris said. “I’m a fighter – I’ve fought for the people of California, especially those most in need. This campaign for Senate has ended, but the work is just beginning. And now I’m ready to take that fight to Washington.” For now, Senator-elect Kamala Harris will take the oath of office as California’s next Senator on January 3, 2017.

Indian Americans have traditionally not been active in US politics, having minimum political participation and lower voter turnout compared to other minority groups. However, in recent times, their political influence is rapidly growing. With four Congressmen and a US Senator, Indian Americans have made their presence felt in Washington, DC.

Californians elected Kamala Harris as the state’s first new U.S. Senator in 24 years, she also became the first Indian American ever elected to the Senate with her victory. Rep. Ami Bera, who was the lone Indian American serving in the House of Representatives, defeated Republican Scott Jones in his re-election bid from the state of California. Bera will be joined by three other Indian Americans when he enters the chamber at the beginning of January’s new session. Fremont attorney Ro Khanna, in his second battle with incumbent Mike Honda and in his third attempt at a congressional seat, has emerged victorious against the eight-term congressman.

Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi won the Illinois 8th Congressional District race against Republican Peter DiCianni. Krishnamoorthi and DiCianni were both trying to win the seat vacated by Tammy Duckworth, who won Illinois’ U.S. Senate seat Tuesday night. Pramila Jayapal defeated Brady Walkinshaw Tuesday in Washington’s 7th Congressional District.

By winning the seat occupied since 1988 by retiring U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, Jayapal becomes the first Indian-American woman elected to Congress. The 52-year-old state senator, whose campaign carried the endorsement of former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, had 57 percent in Tuesday returns in the Seattle-area clash featuring two Democrats. Both candidates referenced the U.S. presidential contest Tuesday night. Jayapal said the result of her race means the 7th District can be “a light in the darkness” if Donald Trump emerged triumphant. “If our worst fears are realized, we will be on the defense as of tomorrow,” she told supporters. “We will have to fight for social justice as never before.”

Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, although not South Asian American has had the support of this community due to her Hindu faith. She cruised to re-election Tuesday night, demolishing opponent Angela Kaaihue by more than 50 percent of the vote. Gabbard, the lone Hindu American in the House of Representatives, finished the night by collecting 82 percent of the vote. Kaaihue received 19,000 votes, or 18 percent.

Assemblyman Prasad Srinivasan (R) won 65% against Matt Saunig (D) 32% at the polls last week. Incumbent Prasad Srinivasan won the 31st District State House in race in Connecticut on Tuesday.

In statewide elections, Indian Americans Prasad Srnivasan, (R;CT); Ash Kalra, D-Calif.; Niraj Antani, R-Ohio; and Jay Chaudhuri, D-N.C., were victorious in their respective elections to statewide offices in the elections held on November 8th.

Dr. Prasad Srinivasan (Dr.S) is a long time resident of the town of Glastonbury. He has been practicing in Glastonbury and the Hartford area for over 30 years. He treats pediatric and adult patients with allergies. Prasad Srinivasan has diverse interests and accomplishments. On November 4th 2014, Prasad Srinivasan was elected to his third term as the State Representative of the 31st Assembly District. He is a member of the General Assembly’s Public Health, Finance Revenue & Bonding , and Planning and Development Committees. Prasad Srinivasan was chief pediatric resident at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. He did his fellowship in allergy and immunology at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago. He is a graduate of Baroda Medical College in India. He is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Allergy and Immunology.

San Jose Councilman Ash Kalra told NBC Bay Area he became the first Indian American to serve in the California legislature, after his opponent, Madison Nguyen, texted him Friday to concede. Kalra, a law professor at Lincoln Law School of San Jose, had been leading in the polls since Election Day as the front-runner in the hotly contested race for the state’s 27th Assembly District. The two were competing to replace termed-out Assemblywoman Nora Campos. “We’ve had a great turnaround! Waiting for final results,” Kalra tweeted. “Friends, votes are being counted & we have a lead of over 4,000,” Kalra added.

Niraj Antani, 25, voted as the second most influential Republican under the age of 30 by Newsmax earlier this year defeated his Democratic rival Merris handily in the election, receiving 63 percent of the vote to Merris’ 37 percent. “I am truly honored to have been re-elected as the state representative for the 42nd Ohio House District,” Antani said following the victory. “I look forward to returning to the Ohio House of Representative as its only Indian American member, and continuing my fight for the American Dream. I am looking forward to continuing my fight in the Ohio House of Representatives so that all Ohioans can have the opportunity to achieve their American Dream,” he said in a statement.

A graduate of Ohio State University, receiving a bachelor’s in political science, as well as a juris doctorate degree from the University of Dayton School of Law, Antani was previously the communications director for the Ohio State University College Republicans during the 2012 presidential election, as well as the chair for the Young Americans for Romney in Ohio.

Jay Chaudhuri, a rising star in the Democratic party, is another Indian American who convincingly held his seat by defeating Eric Weaver 65 percent to 35 percent in North Carolina’s 16th District. “Yes, the last 48 hours have been really hard for Democrats. But, we must respect the integrity of our election process,” Chaudhuri said in a Nov. 10 Facebook post. “Let us move forward. And, let us roll up our sleeves to do the hard work on behalf of all Americans and all North Carolinians.”

Voters skeptical of progress in many areas – even jobs – since 2008

Beyond their disagreements over specific policy issues, voters who supported President-elect Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton also differed over the seriousness of a wide array of problems facing the nation, from immigration and crime to inequality and racism.

And while voters generally said little progress has been made over the last eight years across major areas, Trump backers said things had gotten worse across the board, while Clinton supporters saw more improvement, especially on the economy.

The national online survey was conducted in the two weeks leading up to the presidential election (from October 25 through the morning of November 8) among 3,788 registered voters who reported they had already voted or planned to vote. The survey was conducted on Pew Research Center’s nationally representative American Trends Panel.

Fully 79% of Trump voters said illegal immigration was a “very big” problem in the country today, while just two-in-ten Clinton voters (20%) said the same. Nearly three-quarters of Trump supporters (74%) saw terrorism as a very big problem, compared with 42% of Clinton supporters.

Crime and job opportunities, including job opportunities for working-class Americans, also were rated as more serious problems by Trump than Clinton voters.

Conversely, climate change ranked as a leading problem among Clinton supporters (66% cited it as a very big problem), but near the bottom among Trump voters (14%). Clinton backers also saw gun violence and the gap between rich and poor as much more serious problems than did Trump supporters.

Both racism and sexism were viewed as more serious problems among Clinton voters than Trump voters. About half of Clinton voters (53%) said racism was a major problem, and 37% said that about sexism. That compared with 21% and 7%, respectively, among Trump voters.

Among 13 issues, the gaps were fairly modest on only two – drug addiction and the condition of the nation’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Majorities of Trump supporters (62%) and Clinton backers (56%) said drug addiction was a very big problem. Clinton backers (46%) were somewhat more likely than Trump supporters (36%) to cite infrastructure as a major problem.

The survey also found wide differences between Trump and Clinton voters over how best to address the nation’s problems. Nearly two-thirds of voters overall (65%) – including an overwhelming share of Clinton supporters (84%) – said the more effective way to solve problems is with proven approaches that solve problems gradually, even if change may take a while.

But Trump voters were divided on the best approach to solving problems in this country. About half (53%) favored “new approaches that may solve problems quickly, but also risk making things worse.” Conversely, 46% of Trump backers preferred a proven, if slower, approach to problem-solving. Voters said there has been scant progress across most areas.

Overall, relatively few voters thought the country had made progress on most issues since 2008. The economy was the only one of seven about which roughly as many voters said things had gotten better (38%) as worse (43%) over this period. Roughly two-in-ten (18%) thought it has stayed about the same.

But more voters said the job situation in the U.S. has gotten worse (44%) than said it has gotten better (35%), and by nearly two-to-one, voters were more likely to think the country’s security from terrorism has gotten worse than to think it has gotten better (45% vs. 23%).

Majorities of voters said race relations (67%), the country’s standing in the world (61%), crime (57%) and the immigration situation (55%) in this country had each gotten worse since 2008.

Trump voters took a uniformly negative view of progress over the past eight years: Majorities of Trump supporters said things had declined in all seven areas – from 87% who said the U.S. standing in the world had gotten worse to 69% who said the same about the job situation.

By contrast, Clinton supporters gave mixed views of the progress the country has made over the last eight years.
Majorities of Clinton voters said both the economy (67%) and the job situation (60%) have gotten better since 2008, while far fewer thought either has stayed the same or gotten worse.

Voters who back Clinton were divided on other aspects of the nation, however. While 37% thought security from terrorism in the U.S. has gotten better since 2008, about as many (41%) said it has stayed about the same, and 22% thought it has gotten worse.

A 56% majority of Clinton supporters said the immigration situation in the U.S. has stayed about the same since 2008, while about a quarter thought it has gotten worse (26%) and 18% said it has improved.

More Clinton supporters said race relations have gotten worse in this country than said this about any other issue: 55% thought this, compared with just a third (32%) who thought race relations have stayed about the same since 2008. Only about one-in-ten (12%) said they have gotten better.

As Election ay approached, voters looked ahead to the next administration with a substantial measure of pessimism. Voters had little confidence that the new Trump – or Clinton – administration would be open and transparent, improve the way government works or set a high moral standard for the presidency.

Across five specific areas, majorities of voters gave negative marks to a possible Trump presidency: 61% said that if Trump were elected, he would definitely or probably not set a high moral standard for the presidency; 57% said he would not improve U.S. global standing; 55% said he would not improve the way government works and the same percentage said he would not run an open and transparent administration. About half (52%) said he would use his office to improperly enrich himself or friends and family.

Clinton also was viewed quite negatively; in fact, nearly two-thirds of voters (65%) said she was unlikely to run an open and transparent administration (55% said this about Trump). Clinton also was viewed as less likely than Trump to improve the way government works. However, more voters thought Clinton (48%) than Trump (42%) would improve U.S. standing around the world.

Even beyond the political and ideological divides between Trump and Clinton supporters, the two cohorts showed striking differences in how they describe themselves, both in terms of attributes, lifestyle and personal affiliations. The survey asked respondents to check each description that applied to them.

Notably, the widest gap in views between Trump and Clinton supporters was over whether the term “traditional” described them. About seven-in-ten Trump voters said it did (72%), compared with just 31% of Clinton voters.
An overwhelming share of Clinton supporters (87%) thought “open-minded” describes them well – the most across any of the eight attributes. A smaller majority of Trump supporters (64%) thought the same of themselves.

There also was disagreement between supporters on what core values describe them well. Among Trump supporters, 59% said “honor and duty” described their core values, while about a third (35%) of Clinton backers said this.

By contrast, three-quarters of Clinton supporters said “compassion and helping others are my core values” described them well, while a smaller majority of Trump backers said the same (58%).

Similarly, a strong share of Trump backers (72%) said “think of myself as a typical American” is an apt descriptor. Far fewer Clinton backers (49%) said the same.

And while more Trump backers than Clinton supporters would think of themselves as “blue collar,” relatively few across either of the cohorts described themselves in this way (33% of Trump supporters, 19% of Clinton supporters).
Supporters also were distinct in their associations. A wide majority of Trump supporters (69%) said “supporter of the National Rifle Association” describes them well, more than eight times the share of Clinton supporters who said the same (8%).

Conversely, Clinton supporters were more than twice as likely as Trump supporters to say “supporter of rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people” describes them well: A two-thirds majority of Clinton supporters said this, compared with just about a quarter (24%) of Trump supporters.

Just about half (53%) of Clinton supporters said in the weeks before the election that “supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement” describes them well, including roughly three-quarters of black voters who supported Clinton (73%) and about half of white voters who supported her (51%). By contrast, just 6% of Trump supporters described themselves as supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement. While only about four-in-ten Clinton supporters (38%) said “consider myself a feminist” is an apt description, this is far greater than the share of Trump supporters who thought the same (5%).

Hillary Clinton made history by becoming the first woman to accept a major political party’s nomination for president. Her achievement comes 180 years after the first non-white man was elected to a major political position. The former secretary of state crossed her required 2,383-delegate threshold during the Democratic National Convention’s night roll-call vote on Tuesday, July 26th. Senator Bernie Sanders concluded the roll call, moving for all votes to be cast for Clinton.

At the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, just three miles from Independence Hall where the nation was born, a sense of history is palpable — as is Clinton’s willingness to finally enjoy it.

“What an incredible honor that you have given me, and I can’t believe we just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling yet,” Clinton said via satellite after a video montage showed the faces of all 44 male presidents before shattering like glass to reveal Clinton waiting to address the convention from New York.

“This is really your victory. This is really your night,” Clinton told the cheering crowd. “And if there are any little girls out there who stayed up late to watch, let me just say I may become the first woman President. But one of you is next.”

The world’s oldest and greatest democracy took over two centuries to accomplish this huge milestone in history. In fact, as the New York Times reported in story recently, a closer look at milestones in politics for women and minorities tells of the gradual progress  of American politics and the evolution of democracy in this great land of opportunities.

Western states granted women the right to vote earlier than the rest of the country, which led to the first women being elected to a state legislature — Clara Cressingham, Carrie C. Holly and Frances Klock in Colorado — and to Congress — Jeannette Rankin, from Montana. More women began running for office once suffrage was granted to all women in 1919. Bertha K. Landes became the first female mayor of a major American city, Seattle, in 1926.

Many of the first female governors and senators were elected or appointed to fill vacancies after their husbands died. In the Senate, Hattie Wyatt Caraway, a Democrat from Arkansas, was appointed in 1931 to complete her husband’s term after he died. She won a full term the following year, becoming the first woman elected to the Senate.

Margaret Chase Smith, a Republican from Maine, initially won a special election to complete her late husband’s House term. She served several terms in the House before being elected to the Senate in 1948.

Nancy Landon Kassebaum, a Republican from Kansas, was the first woman to win a Senate seat without first being appointed to finish her husband’s House or Senate term.

The history of female governors begins in 1924 when Nellie Tayloe Ross, a Democrat from Wyoming, was elected in a special election to complete the term of her deceased husband.

That same year, Miriam Ferguson, known as Ma, a Democrat, was elected governor of Texas. She campaigned as a surrogate for her husband, who was governor but could not run again after he was impeached, according to Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics.

The next woman to serve as governor was Lurleen Wallace. She was put on the ballot in 1966, also as a surrogate for her husband, George C. Wallace, when the Alabama Legislature refused to alter the state’s Constitution to allow him to serve two consecutive terms. It was not until 1974 that Ella T. Grasso, a Democrat from Connecticut, became the first woman to be elected governor in her own right — not to fill out her husband’s term or serve as his surrogate.

Alexander Twilight was elected to the Vermont Legislature in 1836. He was also the first African-American to graduate from college. Black men were not elected to Congress until several decades later, during the Reconstruction era after the Civil War, when former slaves in Southern states were given the right to vote and to hold public office. But it wasn’t until the civil rights movement that blacks made more significant, albeit still modest, gains.

Massachusetts voters elected Edward W. Brooke, a black Republican, to the Senate more than 50 years after the 17th Amendment allowed voters to cast direct votes for United States senators. Carl B. Stokes, the great-grandson of a slave, defeated the grandson of President William Howard Taft to become the mayor of Cleveland and the first black man to lead a major American city.

And Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman in the House after a court-ordered redistricting carved a new congressional district out of her Brooklyn neighborhood.

All of the major Hispanic “firsts” in politics came from states that were formerly Spanish territories, like California and New Mexico.

Antonio Francisco Coronel became mayor of Los Angeles shortly after California became a state. And Romualdo Pacheco was the first Hispanic representative to Congress with full voting rights. Most recently, Susana Martinez, a Republican of New Mexico, became the first female Hispanic governor.

Many of the first Asian-Americans to be elected have been from California or Hawaii, which became the 50th state in 1959. laine Noble became the first openly gay person elected to a state legislature by winning a seat in the Massachusetts State House.

Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, became the first openly gay person to be elected to Congress. She now is the only openly gay person elected to the Senate.

There are still many firsts to come.

There has not been an openly gay man elected to the Senate. Or a Hispanic woman. And there haven’t been any black women or openly gay or lesbian governors. As a group, women have often been elected second among the firsts, even decades after being granted the right to vote.

Hillary Clinton’s clinching the nomination follows a pattern that has been repeated at many levels of government throughout American history: White women are often the second or third group to break through the glass ceiling, usually after a black or Hispanic man has done it first. “It is an evolutionary process,” said Ms. Walsh of the Center for American Women and Politics.

First women had to get used to the idea that they could participate in the electoral process. Later, “the powers that be were not encouraging women to run for office,” she said. “All of the gatekeepers were men.”

Kunoor Ojha, an Indian American, who was previously part of the 74-year-old Bernie Sanders campaign, will serve on Clinton’s campaign as the national campus and student organizing director. In an ongoing effort to extend her campaign’s reach into the younger demographic, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton and her campaign team announced June 9 it hired Indian American

Clinton’s announcement of the Illinois-based youth activist Ojha’s hire came hours after President Barack Obama virtually extinguished Sanders’ run for the White House by endorsing his former secretary of state.

Ojha began her political activism as a field organizer on the ‘Obama for America’ campaign in Chicago in 2011, and worked in various state-level campaigns before joining the Sanders bandwagon in 2015. The campaign’s outreach to students, fuelled primarily by the pledge to make college tuition free, saw America’s youth flock to him.

Sanders attracted more support from voters under 30 years old than Clinton and Donald Trump put together — 71 percent in a two-vote race — which kept him in the nomination hunt long after it became clear he wouldn’t make the cut.

Early in the race, Sanders was beating Clinton 84-to-14 among Democrats under 29. Even in the 30-to-44 demographic, he had a 21 percent lead. It was only in the 45-to-64 age group that Clinton retrieved ground (58 percent to 35 percent), increasing it to 69 percent to 26 percent in the 65 and up age group.

Now the Clinton campaign is moving quickly to ensure that the Sanders’ youth brigade remains firmly in the Democratic fold. Although there is little danger of them bolting to the Trump camp — a Harvard Institute of Politics poll earlier this year found 61 percent of voters under 30 would back Clinton, compared to 25 percent for Trump in a two-way race — they want to ensure a high youth turnout. That’s where Ojha comes in.

Ojha has plenty of experience in this area, having worked as a field director for political campaigns tasked with organizing volunteers and ensuring Election Day turn-out. Of course, it will need a lot more to win over the youth, many of whom believe Clinton is part of the “establishment” regardless of political colors.

Kunoor Ojha, the first senior aide to move from the Sanders campaign to Clinton’s, will join Anne Hubert, formerly of Viacom, and Sarah Audelo, who’s worked as a political and field director at Rock the Vote. Hubert will be advising Clinton on multiplatform messaging, outreach and producing content for younger voters. Hubert has also worked in development and programming for MTV and mtvU, MTV’s college network. Ojha will serve as national campus and student organizing director.

Hillary Clinton clinched the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday, June 7 becoming the first woman in American history to top the ticket of a major political party and putting immediate pressure on primary rival Bernie Sanders to step aside.

Hillary Clinton celebrated her triumph as the first woman to lead a major party in a race for the White House, scoring big wins in California and New Jersey, New Mexico, and North Dakota to cement her grip on the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nomination. The former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state spoke to supporters at a raucous event in Brooklyn, New York, and placed her achievement in the context of the long history of the women’s rights movement. “Thanks to you, we have reached a milestone,” Clinton said in a speech. “We all owe so much to who came before.”

Marking the historic moment, Clinton said: “This campaign is about making sure there are no ceilings, no limits on any of us.” She also congratulated Sanders, calling his campaign and the debate he brought about income inequality good for the party – while also saying this is a moment to “come together.”

The Vermont senator has, however, vowed to keep fighting for “every delegate.” Far from bowing out, he vowed to campaign through the final primary next Tuesday in Washington, D.C., and then “take our fight for social, economic, racial and environmental justice to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,” the site of the convention.

She will become the first female nominee for a major US political party. Clinton had reached the threshold with a big win in Puerto Rico and a burst of last-minute support from super-delegates, AP said late on Monday night. Superdelegates are party insiders who can pledge their support for a candidate ahead of the convention but do not formally vote for them until the convention itself.

It has taken a long 227 years to get even this far. George Washington was elected president of a newly independent America in 1789. Forty-three men later (42 of them white) Hillary Clinton makes history today by being the first female nominee for the White House.

Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state, New York senator and First Lady, leads Sanders by over three million votes, 291 pledged delegates and 523 super-delegates, according to AP’s count. She has won 33 caucuses and primaries to his 25 victories.

Sanders has argued that super-delegates — elected officials and other party leaders who are not bound to vote for the candidate their state selected in its primary contest — should not be counted in the final tally even if they have made formal commitments to individual candidates.

His campaign believes that they can still put the nomination within reach for the Vermont senator by convincing Clinton-backing super-delegates to switch their support to Sanders, who they note performs better than Clinton in hypothetical head-to-head contests against GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

In a potential move toward reconciliation, the White House revealed that President Obama called both Clinton and Sanders Tuesday night – and plans to meet with Sanders at the White House on Thursday, June 9 to discuss “how to build on the extraordinary work he has done to engage millions of Democratic voters.”

Kamala Harris, the first ever person of Indian Origin to win a state wide election in the state of California, was declared the winner of the Senate primary in California early Wednesday, June 8th morning, handily beating her competition with 40 percent of the vote with over 80 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D) was trailing far behind Harris with 18 percent of the vote, but she was still in second place. If that result holds, it means the two Democratic women would face off against each other in November for the seat of retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer (D). In third place as the early returns were being counted was Duf Sundheim, the former California Republican party chair. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the general election.

Harris, 51, the state’s attorney general, was easily the top vote-getter among a field of 34 candidates. “I am just thrilled. I am a proud daughter of California and I cannot be more proud than I am tonight,” Harris said in San Francisco. “We have run a campaign, and we will continue to run a campaign, that is about fighting for the ideals of our country. We have so many challenges as a country and we are prepared to lead,” she said, citing passing comprehensive immigration reform, combating climate change, reforming the criminal justice system and “eliminating that income divide that is making so many families suffer.”

Harris has been campaigning across the golden state to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. Karris, a progressive, has always been in the forefront of Civil Rights, Equality and Openness. Harris used herself as an example, saying that she never would have been elected were it not for the educational opportunities she received because of the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling that found segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. Harris said that ruling allowed her to be a member of the second class that integrated Berkeley public schools in the 1960s.

She is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., and earned her law degree at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. Harris as a veteran prosecutor and astute, ambitious political leader. Harris also has been a strong Obama supporter since he was a U.S. Senate candidate from Illinois.

For more than a decade, she worked as a prosecutor in Alameda County and San Francisco, and tried cases involving charges of drunk driving, sex crimes, assault and homicide. Her transition to electoral politics began in 2003 during her successful campaign to unseat San Francisco Dist. Atty. Terence Hallinan. Harris was elected attorney general in 2010, narrowly beating L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, a Republican. She was reelected in 2014 by a wide margin.

Her parents divorced when Harris was a toddler and her late mother, who was a breast cancer researcher at UC Berkeley, raised Harris and her sister, Maya, to be proud African American women during a tumultuous time in the United States. Harris was a student in the second class to integrate Berkeley’s public schools in the late 1960s. Her sister has served as advisor to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Harris’ national profile got a boost when Obama gave her a speaking role at the Democratic National Convention in 2012. The headlines continued in 2013 when Obama apologized publicly for having described her as “the best-looking” attorney general in the country.

Throughout her political career, Harris has articulated clear positions on many controversial, divisive issues that could come before the nation’s high court. Harris favors the protection of abortion rights, an end to the federal ban on medical marijuana and a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally. She backs major changes in the criminal justice system, in part to address racial disparities, including shorter sentences for low-level drug crimes and a shift in government funding from prisons to crime prevention.

As attorney general, Harris has taken actions conservatives would no doubt take issue with during a Senate confirmation hearing, should one ever occur: She refused to defend Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that outlawed same-sex marriage in California until the U.S. Supreme Court found it unconstitutional. Harris defended a state law that required members of public employee unions to help pay for collective bargaining.

“I’m not surprised. She’s a representative of the best of California. She’s been a marvelous attorney general, and she’ll be an exceptional senator,” said California state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, on the Associated Press naming Kamala Harris the first-place finisher in the U.S. Senate primary

Harris and Sanchez each drew national attention and support because each is poised to make history if elected: Harris would be only the second black woman and the first woman of Indian heritage elected to the Senate, and Sanchez would be one of the first Latinas.

In the Senate race, Harris, a native of Oakland and a former San Francisco district attorney, jumped into the race immediately after Boxer announced she was leaving the Senate at the end of her fourth term. She won the endorsement of the California Democratic Party, and two weeks ago Gov. Jerry Brown (D) gave her his blessing. Harris also has been backed by some of the state’s largest labor unions, the Congressional Black Caucus’s PAC and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

President Barack Obama cast Donald Trump’s positions on immigration, trade and Muslims as part of an ignorance-and-isolation philosophy that the president says will lead the U.S. down the path of decline. Obama used his commencement speech Sunday at Rutgers University to tear into the presumptive Republican nominee, without ever mentioning his name. Time and again the president invoked specific Trump policies to denounce a rejection of facts, science and intellectualism that he said was pervading politics.

“In politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue,” Obama told some 12,000 graduates at the public university in New Jersey. “It’s not cool to not know what you’re talking about. That’s not keeping it real or telling it like it is. That’s not challenging political correctness. That’s just not knowing what you’re talking about,” the president said. “And yet, we’ve become confused about this,” he added.

Obama’s rebuke came as Trump closes in on clinching the GOP nomination, raising the prospect that November’s election could portend a reversal of Obama’s policies and approach to governing. In recent days, Trump has started focusing on the general election while working to unite a fractured Republican Party around his candidacy. Democrats are readying for a fight against a reality TV host they never anticipated would make it this far.

Obama has mostly steered clear of the race as Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders compete into the summer for the nomination. But in speeches like this one, he has laid out themes that Democrats are certain to use as they work to deny Trump the White House. He’s urged journalists to scrutinize Trump’s vague policy prescriptions and not to emphasize what he calls “the spectacle and the circus.”

Trump has barreled his way toward the nomination by emphasizing the profound concerns of Americans who have felt left behind by the modern, global economy, summed up in his ubiquitous campaign slogan of “Make America great again.” He’s called for keeping Muslim immigrants out of the U.S., gutting Obama’s trade deals with Asia and Europe, and cracking down on immigrants in the U.S. illegally. In his speech, Obama told graduates that when they hear people wax nostalgic about the “good old days” in America, they should “take it with a grain of salt.”

“Guess what? It ain’t so,” the president said, rattling off a list of measures by which life is better in the U.S. than in decades past. Yet Obama cautioned that both Democrats and Republicans were responsible for over-magnifying the country’s problems. And he appeared to push back gently on Sanders, whose rallies are packed with young Americans cheering the candidate’s calls to uproot an economic system he says is rigged in favor of the extremely rich. “The system isn’t as rigged as you think,” Obama said.

Looking out at a sea of red and black gowns at High Point Solution Stadium, Obama said the pace of change on the planet is accelerating, not subsiding. He said recent history had proved that the toughest challenges cannot be solved in isolation.

“A wall won’t stop that,” Obama said, bringing to mind Trump’s call for building a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. “The point is, to help ourselves, we’ve got to help others — not pull up the drawbridge and try to keep the world out.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who ran against Trump for the GOP nomination and has since become one of his most vocal surrogates, didn’t attend the president’s speech at Rutgers. Instead, he spent the day at nearby Princeton University for his son’s baseball game — the Ivy League championship.

The president, who returned to Washington after his speech, will deliver a final commencement address on June 1 at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Earlier in May, Obama echoed similar themes about progress in the U.S. when he spoke at historically black Howard University in Washington.

Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump has used fake Indian accent to mock a call center representative in India during an election rally last week. The real estate tycoon said that he called up his credit card company to find out whether their customer support is based in the US or overseas.

“Guess what, you’re talking to a person from India. How the hell does that work?” he told his supporters in Delaware. “So I called up, under the guise I’m checking on my card, I said, ‘Where are you from?’” Trump said and then he copied the response from the call center in a fake Indian accent. “We are from India,” Trump impersonated the response. “Oh great, that’s wonderful,” he said as he pretended to hang up the phone. “India is great place. I am not upset with other leaders. I am upset with our leaders for being so stupid,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has slammed the remarks by Trump saying it shows disrespect towards the community and is reflective of his divisive rhetoric. “Donald Trump mocking Indian workers is just typical of his disrespect that he has shown to groups across the spectrum,” said John Podesta, chairman of the Clinton Campaign.

“He has run a campaign of bigotry and division. I think that’s quite dangerous for the country when you think about the fact that you need friends, allies. The kind of campaign he is running breeds disrespect across the globe and breeds division and danger here at home,” he told reporters in Germantown, Maryland after formally launching ‘Indian- Americans for Hillary’, an effort by the community to rally behind the Democratic presidential front runner. Podesta was reacting to Trump’s apparent use of a fake Indian accent to mock a call centre representative in India during a campaign rally in Delaware this week.

Meanwhile, an Indian-American entrepreneur also hit out at Trump, calling his comments “demeaning”. “When Donald Trump fakes the accent of an Indian at the help desk, it is demeaning and demonising to me personally,” said Frank Islam, a top Indian-American bundler in the Clinton campaign who has helped raised more than USD 100,000 for her

Not long ago, a group of Indian-Americans had formed a political action committee to campaign for Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner and had assured that they would everything possible to help him win the party nomination and the elections in November this year.

They had formed a group called, ‘Indian-Americans for Trump 2016’, which was registered as a political action committee (PAC) on January 21^st with the federal election commission, with the aim of garnering support of Indian-Americans to have Trump become the next US President. Dr. Sudhir Parikh, CEO of Pariskh Media, A.D. Amar, a business professor with Seton Hall University in New Jersey and a New York-based Attorney Anand Ahuja had initiated the group.

Anand Ahuja, Attorney and Counselor at Law and Vice President for Indian Americans for Trump 2016, had said that there is a “wrong media created perception that Trump is against Muslims and minorities. And as far as being against H1B visas – either you can increase H1B visas or you can say invest in India – you cannot have it both ways.”

However, Dr. Sudhir Parikh has released a short statement through news agencies, withdrawing his support for Trump and disassociate himself from the PAC: “I allowed myself to be identified with that group because some members of the group are friends of mine. I wish to clarify that I no longer belong to the group and I do not support the candidacy of Mr. Donald Trump.

“For over three decades I have supported both Democrat and Republican candidates based on their individual merits and their commitment to the interests of the Indian-American community and US-India relations. I remain committed to this course,” Parikh added.

The front runner in the Republican Primaries has been criticized, among others by leading Indian American political leaders. Former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, had described Trump as a “madman”. Jindal had criticized his Republican Party colleague as a “non-serious, unstable, substance-free narcissist.” Other phrases Jindal had used to describe are: “egomaniac,” a “carnival act,” “shallow,” “insecure,” “weak” and of course, a “madman.” South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is a rising star in the Republican Party had described Trump’s character and qualities as “everything a governor doesn’t want in a president.”

US President Barack Obama said that the real estate tycoon is exploiting people’s fear amid a stagnant and rapidly changing economy. “I think somebody like Mr Trump is taking advantage of that. That’s what he’s exploiting during the course of his campaign,” Obama told National Public Radio (NPR) in an interview. “When one combines the demographic change with all the economic stresses that people have been going through because of the financial crisis, because of technology, because of globalization, it means that there is going to be potential anger, frustration and fear,” said the president.

Traditionally Indian Americans have voted for the Democratic Party. In 2008, nearly 90 per cent of Indian Americans voted for President Barack Obama. According to Dr. Parikh, he feels that Indian Americans have far more in common with the Republicans than the Democrats as “Our family values are the same as what the Republican Party is talking about, against abortion and same sex relationships. We are the most affluent community in America, with higher per capita income than even the Jews… it makes sense to vote Republican.”

Winning Asian American votes is very critical to winning the presidency. Although, they are not as larger as the Hispanics or the Blacks, Asian/Indian Americans are an influential group in the national and statewide elections. No one can win the presidency with the White votes alone. In 1980, Ronald Reagan won 56 percent of white voters and won a landslide victory of 44 states. In 2012, Mitt Romney won 59 percent of whites and lost with 24 states. According to reports, in the 2012 presidential election, Barack Obama won 73 percent of the Asian American vote. The Democratic presidential vote share among Asian Americans has steadily increased from 36 percent in 1992, to 64 percent in the 2008 election to 73 percent in 2012.

Both the parties have been working hard to win the Asian American votes, except for that Trump has been critical of the Muslims, has spoken against H-1B Visa, which has helped mostly Asians to immigrate to this country. Trump said: “They are taking our jobs. China is taking our jobs. Japan is taking our jobs. India is taking our jobs. It is not going to happen anymore, folks!”

Washington, DC: Raja Krishnamoorthi , who won the Democratic Party primary on March 15, 2016 is all set to join the 11^th Congress in the Nation’s Capital from the 8th Congressional District in the state of Illinois, that includes the Chicago suburbs of Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg and Palatine.

Krishnamoorthi won the Democratic primary, defeating his two opponents, Michael Noland and Deborah Bullwinkel. Krishnamoorthi believes he has a very good chance to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois’ 8th Congressional District, and is now focused on winning the general election in November. “So far, the dynamic has been favorable, but we can’t take anything for granted,” Krishnamoorthi said. “We have to make sure we get our message out.”

Krishnamoorthi is currently president of Sivananthan Labs, where he works on leading research teams developing semiconductor technologies, improved military technologies, solar cells and biosensors to detect weapons of mass destruction. He was formerly the Illinois Deputy Treasurer and served as the policy director for Barack Obama’s successful U.S. Senate campaign in 2004.

Krishnamoorthi noted that he has received endorsements from many politicians, including Democratic Representatives Jared Polis ’96 of Colorado and Derek Kilmer ’96 of Washington, local community leaders and advocacy groups in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Sunil Bhave, a member of the District 59 School Board, explained that Krishnamoorthi is a very genuine person who is able to get along with people who have different opinions, which is a very rare quality that is needed in Congress. “Within a minute of talking to him, you just want to shake his hand and give him a hug,” Bhave said. “He listens to what people have to say.”

Born in New Delhi, India, Krishnamoorthi moved to the United States when he was three-months-old so that his father could complete a graduate degree in industrial engineering. He grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., and moved to Peoria, Ill., where his father was a faculty member at Bradley University. There, he graduated from Richwoods High School.

He explained that he decided to apply to the University because of the strong engineering school, which was where he intended to major. He also said that the liberal arts component and the presence of the Wilson School was key, because it would enable him to take humanities and science classes at the same time. “Princeton’s structure accommodated all of those interests at the same time,” he said. “I could not find that anywhere else.”

Krishnamoorthi graduated summa cum laude from the University. Krishnamoorthi received a degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a certificate from the Wilson School. His independent project dealt with natural gas powered engines and his senior thesis for the Wilson School dealt with foreign directed investment in India, due to his interest in economic development.

He explained that he transferred from Electrical Engineering to Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering because of his interest in the large number of practical applications, such as combustion engines and solar cells. “I was able to take courses where the professors and the teaching assistants were available to mentor and shepherd me through some very difficult coursework,” Krishnamoorthi added. “They allowed me to excel.”

After graduating, Krishnamoorthi spent two years as a strategy consultant and dealt with how a business should grow, whether through increasing revenue or cutting costs. He had always wanted to go to law school because of his interest in government and public policy. “There’s nothing like law school that prepares you for that,” Krishnamoorthi said. “You really learn about the bones of our legal system and the Constitution, and how the federal government operates.”

He then graduated from Harvard Law School in 2000, clerked for Judge Joan Gottschall at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for a year. He assisted Judge Gottschall in deciding cases, and dealt with procedural motions arising in the cases. “It’s a real workout in terms of researching and writing and learning to express yourself persuasively,” he said.

Krishnamoorthi then joined law firm Kirkland and Ellis in Chicago, Ill., as an attorney. He dealt with many different types of law, including contract law, securities law, white-collar criminal prosecutions and bankruptcy litigation. In addition, he did some pro-bono work and was particularly proud of helping a man who had been persecuted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Krishnamoorthi was then appointed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to be the Special Attorney General with the Public Integrity Unit. He took this position after a former colleague at Kirkland and Ellis became the head of the Public Integrity Unit and asked Krishnamoorthi to come and join him.

Krishnamoorthi’s first foray into politics occurred in 1999, when he worked on Barack Obama’s Democratic primary campaign for the 1st Congressional District of Illinois. Obama lost, but asked Krishnamoorthi to become policy director for his Senate campaign in 2004. As a policy director, he educated Obama on various issues and formulated policy that would set him apart from his competitors. He also helped Obama prepare for debates.

In 2007, Krishnamoorthi left Kirkland and Ellis to become the Deputy Treasurer of Illinois. He was appointed by the Treasurer, who was formerly the banker of Obama’s 2004 Senate campaign. Krishnamoorthi focused on writing the policies aimed at promoting economic development, and was impressed by the amount of money managed by the state.

His first foray into elected office came in 2010, when Krishnamoorthi sought the Democratic nomination for Illinois State Comptroller, who maintains the state’s accounts and authorizes checks and payments. He noted that he possessed a unique set of skills that would help him in this position.

“One the one hand, I was an attorney who had investigated ethics abuses,” he said. “On the other hand, I had some financial training as the Deputy Treasurer.” Krishnamoorthi lost to David Miller in the Democratic primary by just over a percentage point. He said that he was able to meet great people during his bid, which encouraged him to try again for elected office. From his first run, he learned that he needed to raise more money to get his message across.

In 2010, Krishnamoorthi joined Sivananthan Laboratories as the president after meeting Dr. Sivalingam Sivananthan, the founder of Sivananthan Labs, when Krishnamoorthi was running for Comptroller.

In 2011, Krishnamoorthi decided to run for the House of Representatives in the 8th District of Illinois. He noted that he jumped into the race because he wanted to defeat then Rep. Joe Walsh, a Tea Party Republican. “He was then the Donald Trump of the U.S. Congress,” Krishnamoorthi said. “He was a horrible guy who played on people’s fears and tried to demagogue on the issues.”

Krishnamoorthi said that his second attempt at elected office was a positive experience because the discussions he had with his opponents were civil and ideas-focused. However, he lost the Democratic nomination to Tammy Duckworth, who went on to become the Representative for the 8th District. Krishnamoorthi then became an advisor to Rep. Duckworth. Last year, Rep. Duckworth announced that she would step down from the House of Representatives to run for the U.S. Senate. Krishnamoorthi subsequently declared his candidacy for the 8th District in 2015, and won the Mar. 15 Democratic primary.

“South Asians turned out in higher numbers than normal this time,” Krishnamoorthi said, hoping that would be the “new normal” in the future. During an event organized by the South Asian community, Raja Krishnamoorthi in his stirring eloquence spelled out his vision –when elected – to usher a new day in the United States Congress with pressing legislative agenda that seeks to strengthen working families, making college affordable, bolstering small businesses, reforming immigration system, improving America’s infrastructure. More importantly Raja Krishnamoorthi assured that he would passionately pursue critical agenda for Americans in bringing about economic equality, protecting Social Security, Medicare and fiercely advocating policies to help working families and raising minimum wage.

Keerthi Kumar Ravoori, Event Convener in his welcome remarks said that we as Indian Americans stand on the precipice of a shining hope and brighter promise with Raja Krishnamoorthi nearing to enter the portals of the U.S. Congress with comprehensive legislative goals. Keerthi Ravoori characterized Raja Krishnamoorthi as a ‘legislative genius’ who would passionately pursue meaningful legislative agenda by hitting the ground running when elected.

Dr. Vijay Prabhakar, Event Co-Chair in his remarks vociferously emphasized that the candidacy of Raja Krishnamoorthi represents a chance of a life time for the current and the future generations. He stridently challenged every Asian American to rise up and stand shoulder to shoulder to help Raja cross the finish line victoriously so that all Americans can see this eminent political personality as a shining inspiration for the entire nation.

His campaign has mainly revolved around keeping people in the middle class and strengthening the middle class and he has advocated for a set of policies to achieve this. Krishnamoorthi wants to raise the minimum wage, pass paid maternity leave, reduce student debt burdens and focus on building a clean-energy economy.

Krishnamoorthi noted that many of his policies have bipartisan support, and he wants to work to find common ground. He explained that there are many Tea Party Congressmen who support expanding solar energy. “Some folks believe that solar energy has become a liberty and independence issue in the Southwest and Florida, because they can cut the cord with their utilities,” he said. “It has the promise of combatting climate change and creating jobs.”

Some other races that would affect Indian-Americans’ political standing nationally and at state levels include California state Attorney General Kamala Harris’ run for the U.S. Senate; incumbent California Democratic Rep. Ami Bera, running for his third term from District 7; Maryland state Assemblyman and former Majority Leader Kumar Barve, the first Indian-American to win a state assembly seat back in 1990, still seeking his party’s nomination in his bid for the U.S. Congress from District 8; civil rights advocate and Washington state Assemblywoman Pramila Jayapal’s run for the Senate from District 7; attorney Neil Makhija, chosen by the Democratic Party to run for the Pennsylvania state House from District 122; and three-term Vermont state Rep. Kesha Ram’s bid for Lt. Governor, among others.

WASHINGTON — President Obama is reportedly vetting Sri Srinivasan, 49, federal appellate judge who has enjoyed substantial support from Republicans in the past, as potential nominee for a Supreme Court vacancy that has set off a brutal election-year fight.

Jane L. Kelly and Merrick B. Garland, both federal appellate judges, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, a federal trial judge, are among others, reportedly being vetted by President Obama for the vacancy in the highest Court in the country. Reports state that they are undergoing background checks by the F.B.I. The White House has not given any indication in this regard.

“President Obama is vetting Merrick B. Garland and Sri Srinivasan, federal appellate judges who have enjoyed substantial support from Republicans in the past, as potential nominees for a Supreme Court vacancy that has set off a brutal election-year fight,” The New York Times reported March 5.

Taken together, the names help flesh out a list of potential nominees for an appointment that could reshape the court and the country. A replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative icon who died on Feb. 13, could hold the deciding vote on matters of abortion rights, guns, the environment, campaign finance and a wide range of other issues.

Srinivasan is currently the U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which many call as a stepping stone to the Supreme Court. He is not only considered a favorite of Obama, who called him a trailblazer, but also his nomination was confirmed by a record 97-0 vote.

Srinivasan was sworn in as judge Sept. 26, 2013, making him the first Indian American to be on the bench of the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the District of Columbia Circuit. Retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor has called Srinivasan “fair, faultless and fabulous.” He received the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Furthering U.S. National Security in 2003, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence in 2005.

Amidst protests from Republicans, President Obama has said he has an obligation under the Constitution, which says he “shall” nominate Supreme Court justices, to fill the vacancy. Public opinion polls indicate that large majorities of Americans believe that the Senate should hold confirmation hearings.

Washington, DC: Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, resigned on Sunday in order to endorse presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

Gabbard — who was the first Hindu and first American Samoan to be elected to Congress, as well as the youngest person ever elected to the Hawaii legislature, at age 21 — commended the leftist Vermont senator for his foreign policy, and his opposition to the hawkish policies of fellow presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

“After much thought and consideration, I’ve decided I cannot remain neutral and sit on the sidelines any longer,” she wrote in an email to fellow DNC officers obtained by Politico.

“There is a clear contrast between our two candidates with regard to my strong belief that we must end the interventionist, regime change policies that have cost us so much,” Gabbard said.

“This is not just another ‘issue.’ This is THE issue, and it’s deeply personal to me,” Gabbard continued. “This is why I’ve decided to resign as Vice Chair of the DNC so that I can support Bernie Sanders in his efforts to earn the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential race.”

Gabbard, who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has condemned U.S. policy in Syria. In late 2015, she introduced a bipartisan bill that called for “an immediate end to the illegal, counter-productive war to overthrow” Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Washington, DC: March 7, 201: The coming of age of the Indian American community is evident all over with the tiny less than 1% of the US population leading in several areas of American life. With the record number of Indian Americans holding high jobs in the Obama administration, many more are even trying to take an active role in the politics of the country by trying to get elected to public offices across the nation. They are the most affluent and best educated of any immigrant group in the country, according to Pew. They include doctors, engineers, tech entrepreneurs and educators, and form a rich donor base. However, Indian-Americans are more spread out than other ethnic groups, and Indian-American candidates in expensive races often have to go out of state to raise funds.

With only one sitting US Congressman of Indian origin in the US Congress, many more are now vying to enter the US Congress. Kamala Harris in California is expected to win the US Senate race in November. With veteran House of Delegates member Kumar Barve running for Congress in Maryland, and Rep. Ami Bera currently ensconced representing a congressional district in Northern California, if the stars align themselves fortuitously, the Indian American community could have many more members elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016.

The Indian American presence on the political stage was delayed until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which opened up the quotas preventing Indians from migrating to the United States and sharply increased the presence of Indians in America. Dalip Singh Saund was the first Indian American member of the House of Representatives, a Sikh who converted his PhD in math to a successful farming career in California, garnering support for a brief Congressional career. But the Indian American presence in Congress since then has been limited, the only blip being former Congressman—and the former governor of Louisiana—Bobby Jindal and the rising star in the Republican Party, Nikki Haley, the governor of North Carolina.

They lean strongly toward Democrats, yet two Republican governors, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Nikki Haley of South Carolina, are of Indian descent. Harris will have to seek contributions to run in a state with some of the costliest media markets in the country. Asian-Americans could form a crucial part of her campaign.

Indian Americans are also aligning with presidential candidates of their choices across the nation. “By mid-March, we will have a clear Democratic nominee,” Indian American political activist Saif Khan, a volunteer for Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s campaign, told the media. “After ‘Super Tuesday,’ we will see a significant lead in delegates and the delegate allocation will show who the clear front runner is,” he said. Khan, an Iraq war veteran, is joining “Operation Rolling Victory,” a campaign initiative in which former war veterans come out to support Clinton at various rallies throughout the country. “When it comes to political contributions, that aspect of her identity will become important,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, associate dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of California, Riverside.

People from New York and New Jersey have got busy this election year to give some time from work to party candidates. While it was difficult to get an exact count of how many Indian-American volunteers are working from the Tri-state area for the Democratic campaign, some young political activists, put the figure of leading volunteers in leadership roles close to 100. There are many others giving some of their time and energy to campaigns.

Sampat Shivangi, founder of the Indian American Forum for Political Education, has expressed disappointment over former Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush’s decision to drop out of the race, following the Republican primary Feb. 20 in South Carolina. Bush had fared dismally throughout the battle, trailing far behind Republican contenders Donald Trump, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah, a long-time supporter of the Bush family, also expressed dispaoointment: “I am very disappointed that Governor Bush has decided to get out of the race. I have great admiration for him. He is a fantastic human being.” Zachariah, also a long-time Republican Party leader, said he was “perplexed” as to how to move forward. “This is a new game. I have no idea what happens next.” “The extreme right wing of the Republican Party has hijacked the party. Trump is preying upon the angriest of people and dividing the electorate,” said Zachariah.

Calling Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump as the “best hope for America”, some Indian-Americans in the New York Tristate area have formed a Political Action Committee (PAC) to support and raise funds for him. Headed by Dr. AD Amar, a business professor with Seton Hall University in New Jersey, the ‘Indian-Americans for Trump 2016’ was registered as a PAC with the Federal Election Commission last month. Its sole goal is “to garner actively the support of all Americans, but particularly Indian-Americans, to have Donald J. Trump become the next President of the USA,” the PAC said in a press release.

Ash Kalra, a member of the San Jose City Council, is vying to become the first Indian-American elected to the California legislature. “The longer the Indian-American community has been in this country, the more it has matured,” Kalra said. “And part of that maturity is becoming more politically active.”

Last year, technology lawyer Ro Khanna, a Democrat, sought a seat in Congress, while former U.S. Treasury Department official Neel Kashkari, a Republican, ran for governor. Though both challenged popular incumbents and lost, their efforts are emblematic of the rise in Indian-American political engagement.

The election results could have major consequences for India and the Indian Americans. The average Indian American may be more interested in a US president who keeps the “golden door” open for immigrants, students and temporary hi-tech workers. They would also be reassured if the White House has a person who upholds traditional liberal democratic views on religious minorities and multiculturalism as a whole.

The populists in both parties, whether Trump or Sanders, have been the most vocal against migrants. Trump has targeted Muslims and Mexicans, Sanders H-1B visa workers. But their rhetoric would worry migratory birds the most. India, however, gets only a passing mention by even the most extreme candidates. Ultimately, says Twining, “the fact that India, unlike China, will not be an election issue should be reassuring to New Delhi.”

Says Sanjay Puri, head of the US-India Political Action Committee, “Indian-Americans tend to be more Democrats than Republicans and it has not changed much this election cycle, especially with Clinton running as she has long-standing relationships with the Indian-American community.” But, he notes, no candidate is allergic to Indians. “Each candidate has a support base in the Indian-American community.”