Who are the Indian-origin candidates in U.S. midterm elections?

Indian-origin candidates are seeking office across the United States in the November 3, 2026, midterm elections, the polls are so called because they fall midway through a President’s four-year term The Indian-origin candidates are contesting from States including California, Washington, Virginia, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Ohio, New York and Maryland.

Their races span different levels of government, from the U.S. Congress and State executive offices to city leadership positions. Several Indian-Americans are in the fray across Texas, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, New York and Los Angeles.

Democratic lawmakers Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal, Ami Bera and Suhas Subramanyam are seeking re-election to the U.S. Congress. Here are some of the prominent Indian-origin candidates contesting the midterm elections: Congressman Khanna is a member of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

His grandfather, Amarnath Vidyalankar, was a freedom fighter who was imprisoned alongside Mahatma Gandhi and later served as a Congress Member of Parliament. Mr. Khanna is a second-generation immigrant. His father, a chemical engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, and his mother, a school teacher, migrated to the United States from Punjab.

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Khanna studied economics at the University of Chicago before earning a law degree from Yale Law School. He later worked as an intellectual property lawyer with clients from the technology sector.

A Democrat from California, Mr. Khanna is seeking re-election from California’s 17th Congressional District, which includes parts of Silicon Valley. He has criticised President Donald Trump’s policies as “utterly destructive”, described him as a “lame duck”, and said Democrats would prevail in the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential election.

Congresswoman Jayapal, who was born in Chennai, is seeking another term from Washington’s 7th Congressional District. In 2020, she became the second Indian-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Ms.

Jayapal traces her roots to Kerala. Her mother, Maya Jayapal, is a writer and counsellor and the author of Bangalore: Roots and Beyond. Ms. Jayapal was the first Indian-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and has represented Washington’s 7th Congressional District since 2017.

On October 14, 2026, Ms. Jayapal voiced concern over reports about the removal of 13 crore names from draft electoral rolls in India. The Democratic lawmaker said she supported non-violent protests against what she described as anti-democratic efforts.

She said the developments appeared similar to attempts in the United States to undermine voting rights. India rejected her remarks on the Election Commission’s revision of electoral rolls, describing them as unwarranted, uninformed and an interference in the electoral practices of a fellow democracy.

Dr. Bera, a physician and politician serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, is seeking re-election as the Democratic candidate from California’s 3rd Congressional District. The son of Gujarati immigrants from Rajkot, Dr.

Bera was born in the United States. He was the third Indian-American elected to Congress. His father, Babulal Bera, later pleaded guilty to illegally funding his son’s election campaigns in 2010 and 2012. Also read | Congressman Ami Bera’s father guilty of election crime Dr.

Bera has consistently advocated stronger India-U.S. ties. He served as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans during the 114th Congress from January 2015 to January 2017. Congressman Subramanyam, who made history by becoming the first Indian-American elected to Congress from Virginia and the East Coast in 2024, is seeking re-election.

Mr. Subramanyam’s parents moved to the United States through Dulles Airport in the late 1970s. His mother is from Bengaluru and his father from Chennai, though he also spent part of his childhood in Secunderabad because his father served in the military.