FREMONT, Calif. (Diya TV) — Fremont attorney Ro Khanna, in his second battle with incumbent Mike Honda and in his third attempt at a congressional seat, has emerged victorious against the eight-term congressman.
Khanna jumped out to an early lead in the race almost immediately after the polls closed, early numbers showed him far out in front. Returns that came during the latter hours from Alameda and Santa Clara counties cemented the victory.
Honda spokesman Vedant Patel said late Tuesday the campaign was not yet prepared to concede the election, according to the Mercury News. Regardless, according to the report, Khanna campaign manager Michael Ambler said they are “confident that Ro will be the new Congressman.”
Critics believed Honda had his work cut out for him after Khanna captured the party’s nomination at their June state primary. The 75-year-old Honda has also been plagued by a House ethics investigation for more than a year, allegations of using taxpayer funds for campaign purposes have been levied against him.
Khanna told Diya TV during his campaign’s victory celebration he was grateful for all the support he’s received from his supporters, and was excited to get to work immediately.
At the time, the election between candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was yet to be decided. That won’t stop him for working with either of the candidates though.
“Obviously I was for Hillary, but we’ve got to come together as a country,” he said.
The contest in California’s 17th Congressional District got even dirtier just days before Election Day — Mike Honda aired a TV ad portraying Khanna as a slimy Wall Street puppet. Khanna fired back his own ads, portraying Honda as tired and unethical.
When Khanna went up against Honda in 2014, more than 20 points divided the two in the primary, a gap that the challenger closed to less than 4 points by the general election.
Founder of Indiaspora, M.R. Rangaswami was elated as he spoke to Diya TV about the representation of Indian Americans in the House with Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Pramila Jayapal and Ro Khanna all emerging victorious.
“We are one percent of the population and now we are one percent of Congress!”, he said.
