Neela Pandya
WASHINGTON DC: This election, Asian-Americans made history. From Andy Kim’s win in New Jersey to Nima Kulkarni in Kentucky, Asian-American Democrats won seats up and down ballot.
Kentucky has elected its first Indian-American as a state representative. Democrat Nima Kulkarni will represent District 40 in Frankfort. Kulkarni is an attorney and community activist who says she wants to protect public education and fight for better healthcare.
Two immigrants will have the distinction of becoming the First Asian-Americans elected to New York State Senate. Democrat John Liu, who was born in Taiwan, won the District 11 state Senate seat, defeating three other challengers.
An Indian-American attorney Kevin Thomas, who immigrated to the U.S. when he was 10 years old, beat out Republican incumbent Kemp Hannon for the state’s District 6 Senate seat.
First Asian-American, ‘Activist’ Attorney General Elected to Statewide Office in Connecticut will be William Tong. He became the first Asian-American in the state’s history to win a statewide office with his election as Attorney General.
Wisconsin’s next Attorney General is Democrat Josh Kaul, former federal prosecutor and son of the former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager.
Andy Kim is the N.J.’s first Asian-American congressman. “I never thought that I would run for Congress,” Kim said in a video announcing his candidacy. “But I also never thought the representative from my home district would lead the charge for taking healthcare away from millions of Americans.”
