WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — In the 2024 elections, Indian Americans won a number of hard fought political battles in state legislatures and local assemblies around the nation.

Among the winners was Renuka Mayadev, who was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly from District 77. Mayadev is an employee of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She ran on gun violence, abortion rights, and defending democracy. Mayadev credits her parents’ immigrant experience from India as inspiring to give back to her community from deep public-service roots.

Arvind Venkat was reelected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The doctor is also the first Indian American elected in the state assembly and elected not to pursue his career after four years but to continue with his legislative endeavors that started in 2022 as district 30’s representative focusing on healthcare and public safety.

Nabeela Syed was reelected to the Illinois State House, District 51. She was the youngest legislator ever elected in Illinois. Syed, elected in 2022, fights for progressive causes and defeated the Republican candidate Tosi Ufodike.

Jeremy Cooney, representing New York’s 56th State Senate District, also won the re-election. Cooney is the first Asian American elected from upstate New York.

Other notable re-elections include Zohran Kwame Mamdani, who solidified his spot in the New York State Assembly. An erstwhile mayoral candidate for New York City, Mamdani is a progressive voice for District 36 in Queens. 

Another potential queen of New York politics, Jenifer Rajkumar secured her seat in the New York State Assembly, where she holds forth on South Asian and immigrant communities’ interests.

Nima Kulkarni, an immigration attorney, was re-elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives for District 40, as was Ranjeev Puri, the Michigan House Majority Whip, who won re-election to the Michigan House of Representatives for District 24 in Michigan.

Still, some of the Indian American candidates lost their battles. Anna Thomas was defeated by Republican Joe Emrick for the 137th District seat of the state House of Pennsylvania, and Anand Patel was defeated by K.C. Tomlinson for the 18th Legislative District seat in the state. Minita Sanghvi, contesting from the New York State Senate, 44th District, didn’t make it and was defeated by Republican Jim Tedisco.