The election is being closely watched as the Democrats prepare for the midterm with momentum and energy on their side.
Voting has begun in the special general election for the 8th Congressional District of Arizona, where Indian American physician Hiral Tipirneni is trying to become the latest Democrat to capture a Republican stronghold in the Trump era.
Tipirneni will facing Republican Debbie Lesko in the district, which was won by Trump by more than 21 points in the 2016 presidential election. Lesko won the Republican primary by defeating 11 candidates.
The election is being closely watched as the Democrats prepare for the midterm with momentum and energy on their side.
Tipirneni, however, is facing an uphill battle in a district that has chosen Republicans in past three elections. Republicans have a nearly 80,000 voter registration advantage in the district and more Republicans have cast ballots in early voting than Democrats.
However, Democrats have outperformed in every congressional since last year.
The Republican candidate has used different campaign tactics including Robo-calls from President Trump to boost Lesko. The party has also pumped in $900,000 for the candidate.
According to the New York Times, Tipirneni, on the other hand, hasn’t got much of a support from the House Democratic campaign arm and the House Majority PAC.
Tipirneni won the special Democratic primary election, defeating her only rival Brianna Westbrook.
The 8th District seat was left vacant after Rep. Trent Franks resigned following a controversy.
Tipirneni, an emergency room physician, is hoping to ride on the bitter opposition and anger among Democrats and independents against Trump policies. Anti-Trump resistance movement has a lot of presence in the district.
Tipirneni’s campaign has been focusing on issues such as affordable healthcare, strengthening the economy, retirement security, quality education, and government accountability.
Tipirneni recently received the endorsement from Indian American Impact Fund, a political group that backs Indian American progressive candidates.
She officially announced her candidacy on July 19, months before it emerged that Franks had asked two of his female congressional staffers to be surrogate mothers of his babies.
Tipirneni came to the United States from India with her family at the age of three. According to her campaign website, she earned her medical degree through an accelerated, competitive program at Northeast Ohio Medical University. She chose to pursue emergency medicine because of the wide variety of challenges it presented, and it allowed her to be the first point of contact for patients.
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