India Post News Service
The Hindu American Political Action Committee (HAPAC) welcomed the culmination of a peaceful and fair 2020 election season demonstrating the robustness of the American democracy, but also a divided country with clear political divisions that must be understood and reconciled.
“We congratulate President-elect Joe Biden for his imminent victory, and look forward to working with him and his Administration,” said Rishi Bhutada, HAPAC board member, “Hindu issues are American issues, and we look forward to fulfilling together.” HAPAC also congratulates Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on becoming the first woman as well as the first person of Black and Indian descent to become Vice President.
The reelection of Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D, IL) with over 70% of the vote was a remarkable victory in the Illinois 8th District, and welcomed by HAPAC as Rep. Krishnamoorthi, the first Hindu to preside over the House of Representatives and one of the most consistent advocates for Hindu Americans in the U.S. Congress, reclaimed his seat.
HAPAC welcomed the elevation of Niraj Antani (R, OH) from the Ohio state House to the Ohio state Senate. Sen. Antani became the youngest and first Hindu American Republican state senator in the United States. Sen. Antani’s efforts to educate Republican Members of Congress on India’s decision to abrogate Article 370 to protect Kashmiri Hindus and textbook revisions in California to accurately depict Hinduism have made him a national political leader for Hindu Americans.
Rep. Padma Kuppa (D, MI), a pioneering Hindu American interfaith community advocate, was reelected by a double-digit margin for Michigan’s 41st State House District. Her leadership and advocacy on behalf of Hindu Americans in strengthening hate crime legislation, immigration and textbook reform and representations of Hindus in the media makes her one of the most vocal community allies in a state house anywhere in the country.
Jennifer Rajkumar (D, NY), a public interest lawyer, prevailed in her race to represent New York’s 38th Assembly District becoming the first Hindu to be seated in the New York State Assembly. Representing a diverse Queen borough district, Rep. Rajkumar will lead a district with one of the highest concentrations of Hindu Americans in the country with several temples and Hindu owned businesses.
HAPAC was disappointed that Sri Kulkarni came up short in his hard fought race to represent Texas’s 22nd District in the U.S. House. A polyglot former Foreign Service Officer who also served as a senior aide in the U.S. Senate, Sri worked especially hard to unite an increasingly diverse Houston-area community in his quest to represent the district he grew up in as the Democratic nominee. Dr. HiralTipirneni, the Democratic nominee for Arizona District 6’s House seat, and a HAPAC endorsed candidate, also lost in a closely fought election race.
Kulkarni’s campaign was reportedly a target of multiple attacks by a political operative with ties to a California Democratic leader, who was hired by a co-founder of the Indian American Muslim Council to attack Sri with allegations of dual loyalties. The Hinduphobic dirty tricks campaign, that included illegal campaign advertisements, sought to peel away Muslim American voters with false claims of loyalties to foreign political organizations.
HAPAC notes that Trump carried the Texas 22nd District making it very difficult for Kulkarni to overcome the challenge of flipping a red district blue, and lost by 24,000 votes. Based on the vote analysis, HAPAC was heartened that most Texas Muslims were not moved by the smear campaign against Sri and voted for Kulkarni as the Democratic nominee.
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