SEATTLE — Pramila Jayapal swept Washington’s Congressional primary Tuesday, meaning she’s one step closer to making history as the first woman from the state to be elected to the House of Representatives.
Born in India and raised between Indonesia and Singapore, Jayapal will face one of the two opponents she’s previously defeated in the open primary by more than 16 percent. Additionally, three other Indian-American Congressional candidates are in contention for House seats around the country.
Ami Bera is seeking his third term from California. Currently, Bera serves as the only Indian-American member of Congress, Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois and Ro Khanna from the Bay Area are also seeking seats in the chamber.
The four are all considered legitimate contenders for election in November.
Running from the seventh Congressional district in Washington State, Jayapal swept the Tuesday night open primary with 38.2% of the votes. Joe McDermott and Brady Wilkinshaw each received 21.5 percent and 20.9 percent of the vote respectively.
“Thank you so much to the voters of the 7th Congressional District! You have fueled the flame of our movement with the clear belief that we together can and will reclaim our government to work for all of us!” Jayapal said to supporters at a victory speech.
Her campaign previously received a stamp of approval from former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“Pramila just proved that candidates can run a strong progressive campaign funded by small-dollar donors and win big,” Sanders said. “The people-powered movement that propelled our campaign to victory in states around the country is already changing how campaigns are run up and down the ticket,” he added.
Trailing early, Jayapal saw an immediate surge in support of her candidacy after Sanders’ endorsement. In addition to campaigning alongside her, Sanders helped raised north of $200,000 for Jayapal’s efforts, and recruited more than 100,000 volunteers to knock on doors and work in her phone banks.
“When you think of the political revolution, I want you to think about Pramila,” Sanders said.
