Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: IN a landmark evening on November 4 for the South Asian diaspora, three prominent candidates of Indian and broader South Asian heritage claimed resounding victories in high-stake US elections, underscoring the community’s growing political clout.
From New York to Virginia and Ohio, three Indian-origin politicians, Zohran Mamdani, Ghazala Hashmi and Aftab Pureval have scored major electoral victories, each making history in their respective races.
Leading the charge was Mamdani, the 34-year-old Ugandan-born son of acclaimed Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and academic Mahmood Mamdani. Mamdani won decisively in the New York City mayoral race, defeating Independent challenger and former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Mamdani, a Democratic socialist and Queens assemblyman, captured over 50 per cent of the vote, translating to over one million ballots in a turnout that shattered records with more than two million total voters, the highest in over five decades. His victory marks him as the city’s first Muslim mayor and first of South Asian descent, a milestone hailed by supporters as a beacon for immigrant communities.
Addressing a crowd of supporters, Mamdani drew inspiration from Nehru’s historic “Tryst with Destiny” speech, delivered on the eve of India’s independence in 1947. In Virginia, state senator Ghazala Hashmi scored a historic victory in the lieutenant governor’s race, becoming the first Muslim woman elected to a statewide office in the US. Ghazala Hashmi was born in Hyderabad in 1964.
In Ohio, Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval won re-election. Pureval, who is of Indian and Tibetan heritage, defeated Republican challenger Cory Bowman, the half-brother of US Vice President J.D. Vance.
Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger won the Governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia by double digit percentages. Sherrill defeated Republican former legislator Jack Ciattarelli.
Spanberger won against Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. The results mark a turnaround for Democrats in two states where the party has faced setbacks in recent years.
Quotes Nehru in victory speech
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani quoted India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, in his victory speech. “A moment comes but rarely in history when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance,” he said, echoing the words delivered by Nehru when India attained freedom on the midnight of August 15, 1947. “Tonight, we have stepped out from the old into the new,” he said.