Sri Kulkarni, a former State Department official, had finished first in the March 6th primary, polling nearly 32 percent.
Indian American Sri Preston Kulkarni, who finished first in the Texas 22nd district primary on March 6, faces fellow Democrat Letitia Plummer in Tuesday’s runoff.
The winner of the race will take on the Republican incumbent Pete Olson in November.
Kulkarni, a former Department of State official who resigned his Foreign Service post to run for US Congress, had polled 31.85 percent votes in the five-candidate primary race. Plummer, a local dentist, received 24.3 percent received of the primary votes.
The runoff was required because no candidate crossed the 50 percent vote threshold in the primary.
Early voting for the runoff began last Monday.
“Sri has the strongest chance against Pete Olson in November,” a fundraising email from his campaign manager Karim Farishta on Monday read. “There is so much at stake. Let’s give it our all today and let’s celebrate together tomorrow night.”
Kulkarni has been running largely against Olson and President Trump in the runoff.
Last week, in an email sent out to his supporters, he pointed out that the GOP incumbent had signed a letter nominating the president for a Nobel peace prize for his efforts to denuclearize North Korea.
“I served in the US State department as a Foreign Service Officer for almost 15 years, because I wanted to reduce global conflict and preserve peace,” he wrote. “Pete Olson stands with Trump on Muslim bans, separating families, and building walls. He feels that a person who makes impulsive decisions without thoughtful deliberation deserves a Nobel Prize. He thinks that praising Trump is more important than doing anything about healthcare, education, women’s rights, disaster relief, or any of the issues that affect our community.”
In an interview with the American Bazaar in January, Kulkarni said he quit the State Department job in order to make meaningful change. “We can’t actually do our job and we can’t represent America, when the government is not representing America,” he said. “If this is what America represents, then I need to change that,” he said.”
The 22nd district is a minority majority district, with whites accounting for just over a third of the population. Hispanics constitute a quarter, Asian Americans 18 percent and African Americans close to 14 percent of the district’s population.
The district, which is highly gerrymandered district, includes areas of three Houston counties: Fort Bend County, Brazoria and Harris.
According to the Cook Partisan Voting Index, Olson, a four-term incumbent, has a 10-point advantage. In the last presidential election, Trump had won the district by 8 points. Nonetheless, Democrats see the district as a pick-up opportunity.
According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Kulkarni has raised more than $269,000 in campaign contributions. Plummer raised just over $119,000, while Olsen leads the pack with nearly $857,000.