Washington, Nov 5, (IANS) Indian American council member Nithya Raman widened her lead in the race to become Los Angeles Mayor, while physician Amish Shah declared victory in a Republican-held congressional seat in Arizona as counting continued after the US midterm elections.
Raman led incumbent Mayor Karen Bass by 26,124 votes in the latest Los Angeles County returns available, putting her ahead in the contest to lead America’s second-largest city.
Shah, a Democrat and former Arizona state legislator, declared victory over Republican Jay Feely in the state’s 1st Congressional District, The Arizona Republic reported. Election tracker Decision Desk HQ separately projected Shah as the winner on Wednesday evening, according to Arizona broadcaster KTAR.
The two contests offered Indian Americans prospects of greater representation in city government and Congress. Neither a candidate’s victory declaration nor a media projection constitutes official certification of an election result.
In Los Angeles, county figures updated Wednesday afternoon showed Raman with 405,193 votes, or 51.67 per cent, against Bass’s 379,069 votes, or 48.33 per cent.
The Los Angeles Times reported Raman’s lead, while local outlets LAist and ABC7 also tracked her widening advantage. ABC7’s Wednesday update said the contest remained too close to call.
Raman moved ahead after Bass held a narrow advantage in the initial returns on election night. The subsequent count increased the challenger’s margin, but ballots remained outstanding.
The mayoral contest is separate from the congressional elections and determines who will head the city government. Raman is challenging a sitting mayor, while Shah sought an open seat in the US House of Representatives.
In Arizona, Shah said in a statement to supporters that he had spoken with Feely and commended him on a hard-fought campaign, The Arizona Republic reported.
The newspaper’s report did not establish that Feely had conceded. It said the Republican had acknowledged on election night that the contest might not go his way.
KTAR reported Shah ahead with 52.5 per cent of the vote against Feely’s 45.4 per cent on Wednesday evening, a margin of 22,494 votes.
The district includes Scottsdale and parts of the Phoenix area. Republican Representative David Schweikert vacated the seat to run for governor, making it an opportunity for Democrats to gain a constituency previously held by their opponents.
Feely, a former National Football League kicker and broadcaster, had President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Shah is an emergency-room physician who previously served in the Arizona legislature.
The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus said in a Wednesday statement issued before the reported projection that a Shah victory would make him the first Indian American elected to represent Arizona’s 1st District.
The caucus said his election would bring its anticipated Asian American and Pacific Islander membership to 23 in the next Congress, up from the minimum of 22 it had identified earlier.
It also welcomed Pia Dandiya’s election in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, describing her as the first Indian American woman elected to represent that constituency.
The November 3 elections included contests for Congress, state governments and local offices. Members elected to the US House serve two-year terms, and the next Congress begins in January 2027.
–IANS
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