Posted on 11/03/2004 3:31:27 AM PST by CarrotAndStick
George Joseph in New York | November 03, 2004 08:52 IST Last Updated: November 03, 2004 12:29 IST
Piyush 'Bobby' Jindal romped to victory from the 1st District of Louisiana – becoming the first Indian American to win a Congressional seat in 46 years.
The only other member of the community to win an election to Congress was Dilip Singh Saund.
When 494 of the 499 precincts were counted, he had got 209,652 votes (78 per cent). His nearest opponent, Roy Armstrong, a Democrat, got 18,032. Votes polled by other candidates -- M V 'Vinny' Mendoza, D, 11,857; 'Mike' Rogers, R, 7,326; Jerry Watts, D, 9,423; Daniel Zimmerman, D, 11,378.
Also Read
Exclusive interview: Bobby Jindal
The outcome was expected, though the Democrats in a desperate bid to deny Jindal the seat had fielded five different candidates. There were fears that all these candidates together may get enough votes to cause a run-off election.
The state law asks for a run-off if no candidate wins 50 per cent or more of the total votes. Last year, Jindal lost the race for state governor in a run-off.
The 6th District of New Jersey had an interesting contest between Sylvester Fernandes, an Indian American fighting on the Republican ticket, and incumbent Frank Pallone, a long time friend of India who enjoys overwhelming backing from members of the community. That has proved to be a no-contest, with Pallone retaining his Congress seat winning 45, 461 votes (67.78 per cent) as against 20,290 votes. (30.25 per cent) polled by his opponent.
Jay Rao, contesting for secretary of state in North Carolina on the Republican ticket, and incumbent Elaine Marshall, a Democrat, are locked in an interesting battle, with Rao surging into an early lead only for Marshall to catch up and pull ahead marginally.
"I'm looking for a long night," Rao told rediff.com. "If the counting continues till 1 am, I have a fair chance."
At the time of writing this report, Marshall had 275,952 votes against Rao's 204,883, with just 377 of 2,769 precincts reporting.
In Westwood city council, Indian American George James, who was seeking re-election, was defeated.
Also Read
Indian Americans in the fray
In the Illinois senate race, Barak Obama, the new star of the Democrats and a favourite of the Indian Americans there, easily trounced Republican Alan Keyes, who once served in the US embassy in New Delhi.
Though Republicans lost Illinois, they won the senate seat held by Democrats in Georgia. The Republican Party's Isakson defeated Congresswoman Dennis Majette, who was favoured by the Indian American community. The seat was held by Senator Zell Miller, Democrat, who fiercely opposed Kerry at the Republican convention.
US Presidential Election: Complete Coverage http://www.rediff.com/news/uspoll04.htm
Way to go, Bobby! You've worked hard for this...
more good news
Oh really??? I didn't even know he was running! Maybe I missed the threads about Jindal running. Excellent!
Nice! Didn't even know he was running.
Yes but Indians voted for Barack Obama in Illinois. Indians and Coloureds are thick as thieves in Kenya, and Barack played that unknown cultural fact up big time to get elected.
Awesome news. Jindal is a star!
Congratulations to Bobby Jindal!
I voted for him in the governor's race.
So racist Southern Republicans elected a man of Indian background to Congress. . .
I hope pondering that fact causes a few Lefty heads to explode with the cognitive dissonance they will experience.
Profile: Bobby Jindal
Bobby Jindal has put behind him a defeat in the contest to become governor of Louisiana last year to become the first Indian-American elected to Congress for nearly 50 years.
Now by winning a House of Representatives seat in the southern state he confirmed his place as a rising star of President Bush's Republican party.
Mr Jindal won 78% of the vote in his district race against Democrat Roy Armstrong on Tuesday.
Mr Jindal's election is the first for an Indian-American since 1956, when Dalip Singh Saund won a Congress seat from California.
Mr Jindal's parents are from the Punjab, in northern India. He was born a Hindu in Louisiana's capital, Baton Rouge, and converted to Christianity in his teens.
What is more, he is only 32 years old - a newcomer to politics, from an ethnic group which is itself relatively new to America.
His supporters argue that he is already the most high-profile Indian politician in the country.
Problem-solver
His success, they say, is a sign that America's Indian community - having earned a reputation for economic and educational success - has finally come of political age.
Bobby Jindal believes his political inexperience is an asset.
"I am not a politician, I'm a problem-solver, and Louisiana needs a problem-solver," he said during last year's governorship race.
Indeed, it is as a problem-solver that he made his name.
After a spell at Oxford University and with international consultancy firm, McKinsey, he was hired by Louisiana's governor to fix the state's healthcare problems.
Mr Jindal is credited with slashing the state healthcare system's multi-million dollar budget deficit and steering it towards a surplus.
His management skills attracted Washington's attention - and made President George W Bush give him a top job in the Health and Human Services Department.
However, Mr Jindal was narrowly defeated in the race for governor by Democrat Kathleen Blanco.
One factor was Democrat support among African-Americans, who make up almost a third of Louisiana's population.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/3169314.stm
Published: 2004/11/03 09:41:00 GMT
© BBC MMIV
And I mean to say "racist" (in quotes).
'Indian' background as in 'from India', that is. Isn't that what you implied?
Thankfully, Barack Obama's party in the Senate will be once again regulated to "Minority-Status" in the senate and thank God the Republicans will even pick up a few
extra seats, thanks partially to our new Senator-Elect
from our Great state of Georgia (Johnny Isakson)
thank goodness
Very happy to see Jindal win since I didn't know he was running in that particular race. I was saddened to see
him lose so close in Louisiana when he narrowly lost the
race for the Governor's Mansion down there.
Hoooooly Cooooow!!!
Rice/Jindal in 2008!!!!
Those damn racist republicans will trick the American people into voting for them agian!
I believe he was born in LA, so "Indian background" is accurate.
LOL! Awesome ticket. Gives us 16 years, with Jindal's age.
Thank you.
I was trying to clarify the confusion because of the terms 'Indian American' and 'American Indian'.
Both seem similar, yet are 'worlds' apart!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.