Indian-origin candidates are seeking office across the United States in the November 3, 2026, midterm elections, the polls are so called because they fall midway through a President’s four-year term
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are due for election, since members serve two-year terms. In the Senate, where members serve six years, 35 of the 100 seats are up for election, including special elections in Ohio and Florida.
The Indian-origin candidates are contesting from States including California, Washington, Virginia, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Ohio, New York and Maryland. Their races span different levels of government, from the U.S. Congress and State executive offices to city leadership positions.
Several Indian-Americans are in the fray across Texas, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, New York and Los Angeles. Democratic lawmakers Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal, Ami Bera and Suhas Subramanyam are seeking re-election to the U.S. Congress.
Here are some of the prominent Indian-origin candidates contesting the midterm elections:
Ro Khanna
Congressman Khanna is a member of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. His grandfather, Amarnath Vidyalankar, was a freedom fighter who was imprisoned alongside Mahatma Gandhi and later served as a Congress Member of Parliament.
Mr. Khanna is a second-generation immigrant. His father, a chemical engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, and his mother, a school teacher, migrated to the United States from Punjab. Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Khanna studied economics at the University of Chicago before earning a law degree from Yale Law School. He later worked as an intellectual property lawyer with clients from the technology sector.
A Democrat from California, Mr. Khanna is seeking re-election from California’s 17th Congressional District, which includes parts of Silicon Valley. He has criticised President Donald Trump’s policies as “utterly destructive”, described him as a “lame duck”, and said Democrats would prevail in the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential election.
Pramila Jayapal
Congresswoman Jayapal, who was born in Chennai, is seeking another term from Washington’s 7th Congressional District. In 2020, she became the second Indian-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Also read: Pramila Jayapal has a close Bengaluru connect
Ms. Jayapal traces her roots to Kerala. Her mother, Maya Jayapal, is a writer and counsellor and the author of Bangalore: Roots and Beyond.
Ms. Jayapal was the first Indian-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and has represented Washington’s 7th Congressional District since 2017.
On October 14, 2026, Ms. Jayapal voiced concern over reports about the removal of 13 crore names from draft electoral rolls in India. The Democratic lawmaker said she supported non-violent protests against what she described as anti-democratic efforts.
She said the developments appeared similar to attempts in the United States to undermine voting rights. India rejected her remarks on the Election Commission’s revision of electoral rolls, describing them as unwarranted, uninformed and an interference in the electoral practices of a fellow democracy.
Ami Bera
Dr. Bera, a physician and politician serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, is seeking re-election as the Democratic candidate from California’s 3rd Congressional District.
The son of Gujarati immigrants from Rajkot, Dr. Bera was born in the United States. He was the third Indian-American elected to Congress. His father, Babulal Bera, later pleaded guilty to illegally funding his son’s election campaigns in 2010 and 2012.
Also read | Congressman Ami Bera’s father guilty of election crime
Dr. Bera has consistently advocated stronger India-U.S. ties. He served as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans during the 114th Congress from January 2015 to January 2017.
Suhas Subramanyam
Congressman Subramanyam, who made history by becoming the first Indian-American elected to Congress from Virginia and the East Coast in 2024, is seeking re-election.
Mr. Subramanyam’s parents moved to the United States through Dulles Airport in the late 1970s. His mother is from Bengaluru and his father from Chennai, though he also spent part of his childhood in Secunderabad because his father served in the military.
Mr. Subramanyam has strongly supported closer India-U.S. ties, describing India as one of the world’s most important democracies and stressing the importance of strong relations between democratic nations.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Republican Vivek Ramaswamy is running for Ohio Governor. Backed by President Donald Trump, Mr. Ramaswamy won the Republican primary in May and became the party’s nominee for the November election.
A former co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Mr. Ramaswamy launched a presidential campaign in 2024 before withdrawing and endorsing Mr. Trump.
The son of immigrants from Kerala, Mr. Ramaswamy was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father, Vadakanchery Ganapathy Ramaswamy, worked as an engineer at General Electric, while his mother is a psychiatrist.
Mr. Ramaswamy studied at Harvard University and Yale Law School before building a career in biotechnology and finance. He founded Roivant Sciences and served as its chief executive officer from 2014 to 2021. He later founded the asset management firm Strive. According to Forbes, his net worth is estimated at $2.5 billion.
Saritha Komatireddy
Republican Saritha Komatireddy, the party’s nominee for New York Attorney General, is a former federal prosecutor and a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
She spent more than a decade prosecuting members of Al Qaeda, ISIS and Mexican drug cartels. As a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York, she handled several high-profile cases involving terrorism, cybercrime, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, fraud and foreign public corruption, according to her official campaign website.
She later served in senior positions including Chief of International Narcotics and Money Laundering, Deputy Chief of Appeals and Deputy Chief of General Crimes in the district’s National Security and Cybercrime Section. She also served as Chief of Staff at the Drug Enforcement Administration and is currently a partner at Holtzman Vogel.
Nithya Raman
Nithya Raman, an urban planner and member of the Los Angeles City Council representing District 4, is contesting the Los Angeles mayoral election, according to the City of Los Angeles official website.
A graduate of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ms. Raman has served as co-chair of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council’s Homelessness Committee and co-founded the SELAH Neighbourhood Homeless Coalition.
She was elected to the City Council in 2020, becoming the first Asian-American woman and the first South Asian elected to the body. In March 2024, she won a second term.
Ms. Raman currently chairs the Civil Rights, Immigration, Social Services and Neighbourhoods Committee and serves on several other council committees.
Pooja Sethi
Pooja Sethi is the Democratic candidate for Texas House District 47. An attorney by profession, Ms. Sethi has served as chief of staff in the Texas Legislature and as chair of the Travis County Democratic Party, according to her Linkedin profile.
Sandeep Srivastava
Sandeep Srivastava is the Democratic candidate for Texas House District 66. A long-time resident of the Plano-Frisco area, businessman and community advocate, Mr. Srivastava is challenging a five-term Republican incumbent in the November election, according to his official campaign website.
Pia Dandiya
Pia Dandiya, a former high school principal, is the Democratic candidate from Florida’s 22nd Congressional District and faces Republican Casey Askar.
A first-generation American, Ms. Dandiya has built her campaign around education and affordability. Born and raised in Palm Beach County, she began her career as a teacher before becoming a high school principal in Harlem.
She later founded a high school aimed at improving opportunities for low-income students. According to her campaign, every graduate of the school secured admission to college despite a large majority coming from low-income households.
Amish Shah
Amish Shah, a physician and former State Representative, is the Democratic candidate from Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He is contesting against Republican candidate Jay Feely, a former National Football League kicker endorsed by President Donald Trump.
Mr. Shah served three terms in the Arizona House of Representatives. He narrowly lost the 2024 congressional election to Republican David Schweikert.
The Cook Political Report has classified Arizona’s 1st Congressional District as “Lean Democratic”, making the contest one of the closely watched races of the election cycle.
