Indian-origin leaders dominate US local polls
Three Indian-origin political leaders won the local election races in the US on Tuesday, November 4. All of them are Democrats. Zohran Mamdani drew the attention of the world after winning the New York City Mayor election. Aftab Pureval and Ghazala Hashmi, who became the faces of local races in Cincinnati and Virginia, respectively. While Mamdani and Hashmi mutually share their Muslim faith, Pureval has Punjabi Sikh roots.
Zohran Mamdani
The 34-year-old assemblyman from Queens will soon become the youngest NYC mayor in the city’s history. The Uganda-born assemblyman will be the first Muslim as well as the first Indian-American (and South Asian) to clinch the political title. The self-described Democratic Socialist was just 7 years old when he first came to the United States. He was born to Indian parents in Uganda, with his mother Mira Nair being a prestigious Indian-American filmmaker, while his father Mahmood Mamdan is a Ugandan scholar. The New York City mayor-elect’s multi-faceted religious background is, in turn, attributed to his mother’s roots tracing back to a Hindu family, and his father being a Muslim.
Ghazala Hashmi
Born in India’s Hyderabad, the 61-year-old representative is “an experienced educator and advocate of inclusive values and social justice. Her legislative priorities include public education, voting rights, and the preservation of democracy, reproductive freedom, gun violence prevention, the environment, housing, and affordable healthcare access,” according to her official profile.
She emigrated to the US with her mother and brother when she was just four years old. In the past, she served as a professor at the University of Richmond and Reynolds Community College. During her time at Reynolds, she also stepped up as the Founding Director of the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). She has a BA with honours from Georgia Southern University and a PhD in American literature from Emory University.
Aftab Pureval
Back in 2021, Aftab Karma Singh Pureval scripted history by becoming Cincinnati’s first Asian-American mayor. On Tuesday, he took back the post in a re-election victory against Republican candidate Cory Bowman, who is Vice President J D Vance’s half-brother. Although his office is nonpartisan, Aftab’s party preference has emerged as Democratic, according to PBS.
Before taking on the responsibilities of a city mayor, he worked as a lawyer. Like Mamdani, Pureval is also the son of an interfaith couple. According to his official profile, his Tibetan mother fled Communist Chinese occupation as a child. Ultimately, growing up in a Southern Indian refugee camp, she went on to meet Aftab’s Punjabi father as a student.
From Tibet to India, his family ultimately sought the American Dream, and he grew up in the suburb of Beavercreek, Ohio. During his formative years, Pureval studied political science at the Ohio State University before moving on to pursue a law degree at the University of Cincinnati. While at law school, he worked with the UC Domestic Violence Clinic and represented abuse survivors.
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