Polls show Ro Khanna, Swati Dandekar trailing.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Two of the bigger Indian American names in the 2013 election are Ro Khanna and Swati Dandekar. Both are running for seats in the US House of Representatives, looking to join Californian Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA), who is currently the sole Indian American in Congress (Tulsi Gabbard is a Hindu by faith, but not Indian American).
Democrat Rohit “Ro” Khanna is running for the California 17th District seat in the House of Representatives. Khanna is running against Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), a seven year veteran and fellow Democrat.
Khanna has some strong endorsements, notably: Gavin Newsome, the lieutenant governor of California; Orrin Mahoney, mayor of Cupertino, and several IT leaders like Aditya Agarwal (Dropbox) and Vijaya Gadde (Twitter). He has also out-raised Honda in terms of campaign funds, thanks in large part to his supporters in Silicon Valley, but Honda has been endorsed by President Barack Obama and “virtually the entire California Democratic establishment in Washington,” according to Politico. Khanna’s endorsements, plentiful though they are, don’t seem to hold much water when compared to the Commander-in-Chief of the United States.
Apart from being a strong supporter of immigration and tax reforms, Khanna is also an opponent of PACs and a supporter of bipartisanism. He was recently critical of Honda’s acceptance of his Congressional paycheck, saying that Congressional leaders should not have been paid during the government shutdown because they failed to do their jobs. Khanna says he would not have accepted his paycheck, and would do everything he can to reach across the aisle in Washington to promote compromise and get things done than accept a stalemate.
Nevertheless, polls favor Honda for re-election this term. His endorsements and his experience seem to resonate more with Californians than the idea of injecting fresh blood into a Congress that many Americans have become disenchanted with. A survey from August 29th (the most recent poll) has Honda ahead of Khanna by a staggering margin of 49% to 15%, though that was over two months ago. Khanna’s chances of victory are slim but theoretically not impossible.
Democrat Swati Dandekar is running for the Iowa 1st District seat in the House of Representatives. If Dandekar wins, she will be the first-ever Indian American woman elected to the House of Representatives.
Dandekar is running on a platform built around a focus on the economy, with education, technology and job creation being at the front of what she hopes to accomplish in office. She has served on various boards and committees involved with education, commerce, and public facilities. But her road to Washington will not be easy.
The seat Dandekar is vying for is currently occupied by Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA). She is running against four other Democrats – Anesa Katjazovic, Pat Murphy, Dave O’Brien, and Monica Vernon – and four Republicans – Rod Blum, Mark Lofgren, Steve Rathje, and Walt Rogers – in her district. In elections for Congressional seats, it’s typical to see multiple candidates from the same party running against each other.
Dandekar has some endorsements, including those of Kumar Barve, the Democratic Party chairman of the Maryland state House of Delegates, as well as Sanjay Puri of the US-India Political Action Committee. But she has no endorsements from any major publications or politicians.
In mid-October, The Iowa Republican reported that Dandekar had been successfully raising campaign funds in excess of $223,000, with a further $187,000 on-hand personally, making her (at least financially) a leading candidate for the seat. The polls, however, tell a different story. The most recent survey, from early October, has Kajtazovic leading with 38%, while Dandekar is a distant fourth place among the Democrats with only 12%.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com