Zohran Mamdani isn’t alone. How Indian-origin politicians are slowly becoming more in the US

Zohran Mamdani has become just the latest Indian-origin politician elected to a prominent position in the United States.

Mamdani, who was elected mayor of New York, America’s biggest city, on Tuesday (4 November), is the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Ugandan academic and political commentator Mahmood Mamdani. He is a 34-year-old self-described Democratic Socialist.

Mamdani had secured a little over 50 per cent of all the votes counted, while Cuomo got 41 per cent and Silwa eight per cent. The New York City Board of Elections said nearly two million people had voted, the highest turnout since 1969. Mamdani is also close to breaching the 1 million votes barrier, which no candidate in history has done.

But Mamdani isn’t alone. Indian-origin politicians in the United States are on the rise. According to reports, there are at least five dozen such individuals across all levels of government in the United States. Let’s take a closer look at some of them.

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Ghazala Hashmi wins in Virginia

Ghazala Hashmi, an Indian-origin Democrat, was elected as the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia on Tuesday. Hashmi, 61, has already made history as the first Muslim and South Asian woman in the Virginia Senate. Hashmi, who defeated Republican John Reid, an ex-conservative talk show host and the state’s first gay nominee, is also the first Indian American elected statewide. With nearly 80 per cent of votes in, Hashmi won 54.2 per cent compared to 46.8 per cent of the votes Reid secured.

Hashmi, who was born on 5 July 1964 in Hyderabad, moved to Georgia in the United States with her family at the age of four. Her father, Professor Zia Hashmi, went to Aligarh Muslim University. He later did his PhD in International Relations from the University of South Carolina and retired as Director of the Centre for International Studies.

“As an experienced educator and advocate of inclusive values and social justice, her legislative priorities include public education, voting rights and the preservation of democracy, reproductive freedom, gun violence prevention, the environment, housing and affordable healthcare access,” her official profile said.

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Hashmi was among over two dozen Indian-Americans and South Asian candidates running for office for key nationwide positions in the 2025 elections.

Aftab Pureval re-elected as mayor of Cincinnati

Aftab Pureval has been re-elected as the mayor of Cincinnati. Pureval, 43, defeated JD Vance’s half-brother Cory Bowman, who was armed with the endorsement from the Vice President. Pureval, who received 80 per cent of the vote in the Democratic primary, is said to have handily defeated Bowman.

Pureval, who was elected to the position in 2021, was the first Asian-American to serve in that role. He was also the first individual of Indian and Tibetan descent to hold the position. Though the position of mayor is non-partisan, Pureval is aligned with the Democratic Party.

Pureval was born in Ohio on 9 September 1982. Pureval’s father, Devinder Singh Pureval, came to the United States from Punjab, while his mother, Drenko, is a Tibetan refugee. He studied law before working as an Associate Attorney in Washington DC. He then served as a Special Assistant US Attorney for the United States Department of Justice in Ohio. He also worked in the private sector as legal counsel at Procter & Gamble.

Satish Garimella and Dini Ajmani

At least two other Indian-origin politicians, Satish Garimella and Dini Ajmani, were in the running to be mayors of Morrisville in North Carolina and Hoboken in New Jersey respectively. Garimella previously served on the town council of Morrisville, North Carolina.

Ajmani, meanwhile, is a former US Treasury Department official. She is vying to replace Ravi Bhalla, who is also an Indian-American. Bhalla, meanwhile, is running for the state legislature.

‘Samosa Caucus’, Harris and others

There are already seven Indian-Americans currently serving in the US House of Representatives, known as the ‘Samosa Caucus’.

The name for the informal bloc, after the popular Indian snack, was said to be coined by Raja Krishnamoorthi, member of the US House of Representatives from Illinois’s 8th District in 2017. Before Krishnamoorthi, Democrat Dr Ami Bera was elected in California’s 7th District in 2013.

Bera was soon joined by Congressman Ro Khanna, a counterpart from California’s 17th District. Pramila Jayapal from Washington’s 7th District and Shamal Thanedar (68) from Michigan’s 13th District were some of the other members. They have now been joined by Suhas Subramanyam from Virginia’s 10th District.

There are reports that the number of Indian-Americans in state legislatures has increased five-fold from 10 in 2013 to 50 in 2025.

Notably, Kamala Harris, who served as Vice President of the United States and was a US Senator till 2021, is also of Indian origin. In the Republican Party, Bobby Jindal, who is of Indian origin, earlier ran for President of the United States. So did Vivek Ramaswamy, who was appointed by Trump in his administration and is currently seeking the governorship of Ohio.

Over 130 Indians were serving at all levels across the Biden administration and over 80 have been appointed in the Trump administration. It seems that no matter who is in office, Democrat or Republican, Indian-origin politicians can be found serving at the highest levels.

With inputs from agencies