TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Diya TV) — Mary Thomas, a conservative Indian-American congressional hopeful from Florida’s 2nd District, was narrowly defeated in the state’s Aug. 30 primary election.
She finished second in the three-candidate election, just 2.1 percent behind the victor, Neal Dunn. Thomas collected 32,162 votes — or 39.3 percent — to Dunn’s 33,873 votes — or 41.4 percent. Ken Sukhia finished in a distant third with 15,821 votes.
“Mary called and conceded to Dr. Neal Dunn (Aug. 30) and she congratulated him on his victory,” Thomas’ campaign manager Matt Joiner said in a statement. “She thanked her supporters for the hard work they put in. We are never going to stop fighting for conservative causes. That’s all I have to say at this point,” Joiner added.
Thomas, who has already ceased the existence of her campaign website and official Facebook page as of Aug. 31, posted a tweet on the day of the defeat, saying: “Congratulations to our next Congressman Neal Dunn. Together we will work to Make America Great Again. Thank you to my many volunteers.”
Mary Thomas’ defeat could have come as the result of having her campaign sabotaged, according to Senate Conservatives Fund president Ken Cuccinelli. In an email to supporters, Cuccinelli lashed out against the party’s establishment, questioning the wisdom of supporting Neal Dunn, a Florida businessman.
“The GOP establishment loves to talk about how the Republicans need more women and minorities in office to improve the party’s image. But when a young, conservative 38-year-old Indian-American woman seeks office, they move heaven and earth to defeat her,” Cuccinelli wrote.
“If Mary Thomas wins this race, she will be the first Indian-American woman to serve in the United States Congress, but Kevin McCarthy and his allies want to defeat her and elect a liberal, middle-aged white guy. It’s hypocritical and indefensible,” he added.
He further alleged that the “DC establishment doesn’t care about diversity” and that McCarthy and super-PACs linked to House leadership are working to taint Thomas as a liberal.
