elections 2004 - Super Tuesday March 2 Primaries
3 winners among 11 candidates; Senate, Congress and local races

The March 2 Super Tuesday primaries in California and Texas had 11 people of South Asian origin running at various levels against great odds with insufficient means and name recognition. But at the very local levels they fared well, including in one race in El Paso, Texas. Since most of them lost by huge margins in Mayoral, State, and Congressional primaries in California, it throws up the chicken and egg dilemma ---- whether it is wise to take the plunge into politics, bring the community behind you only to run a losing race; or make your political foray into electoral races after significant name-recognition. At the same time, it is only fair to keep in mind that voter turnout was generally lower than 50 percent, but ranged between as low as 33 percent in a few counties to as high as 64 percent. Nevertheless, several of the races Indian Americans entered were foregone conclusions, but entering a race, building a team, fundraising, public speaking and garnering endorsements as well asng oneself to close public scrutiny are difficult and challenging steps to becoming a politician. The fact that so many were eager to get their feet wet in American politics, in the ultimate analysis, augurs well for the community, observers believe. But for the winners for boards of water and sanitary services, it was grassroots politics with fewer minds and hearts to win over and lesser financial investments. Their votes could be counted in hundreds and at most, thousands, as compared to the citywide and statewide races. ------ Ela Dutt

U.S. senate, Ca

G.M. ‘Bill’ Quraishi, ran for Senate from California, secured 1.4 percent of the vote.

Ajinderpal Singh Sekhon, Democratic contender for the U.S. Congress from District 2, the greater Yuba City area, the person who seemingly fared the best among Indian-American candidates, secured 30 percent of the Democratic vote in the primaries where his opponents Mike Johnson got 44.3 percent, and Jeffrey Vance 25.3 percent. Johnson goes on to fight veteran Republican incumbent Wally Herger in a predominantly Republican district. Sekhon, a pulmonology and internal medicine specialist, reported ran because he felt Herger had failed to represent the poorer people of the district.

Congress, Ca

Ajinderpal Singh Sekhon, ran for Congress from CA, District 2, secured 30 percent of the vote.

A colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and a disabled veteran, Sekhon, who supported universal health care, told the Enterprise Record of Chico, Ca., that he believed the Bush administration was indulging in military adventurism. Born in India in 1949, Sekhon arrived in the U.S. in 1973 to study medicine, got his citizenship in 1982, and has been in private practice.

n Rohit ‘Ro’ Khanna, Democrat, who ran against District 12 juggernaut Rep. Tom Lantos, got barely 19.6 percent of the vote against the veteran Congressman’s 73.7 percent; but he touched a nerve among Democratic voters and secured national attention with write-ups in respected journals like Roll Call and The Nation, all of whom treated his candidature seriously and gave weight to his questioning Rep. Lantos’ record.

Congress, Ca

Rohit ‘Ro’ Khanna, ran for Congress from CA, District 12, secured 19.6 percent of the vote

“Under President Bush and Representative Tom Lantos, our country is headed in the wrong direction. The war in Iraq, which Lantos strongly supported, was a mistake. We need Democrats who will stand up to Bush’s foreign policy and focus on our needs at home,” Khanna said, explaining his re-asoning. The San Francisco Chronicle called it the only contested primary in the Bay area. The novice candidate is said to have raised the most money of any of the primary races, close to $100,000.

y condemning the Patriot Act, Khanna challenged Rep. Lantos to a debate that the veteran Congressman was reluctant to agree to, getting Khanna a lot of publicity and voter support. But obviously, the support was not enough to dethrone the entrenched Lantos.

Congress, Ca

Peter Mathews, ran for Congress from CA, District 37, secured 16.1 percent of the vote

Meanwhile, police said on March 2 that an investigation is under way into a series of allegedly racist phone calls made on election day to Khanna, according to The San Mateo Daily Journal. An anonymous caller rang up Khanna’s campaign headquarters on March 2 and told staffers that Khanna should “go back to India” and “stop taking all our jobs,” said campaign manager Andres Ramirez. The series of calls ended cryptically with the caller saying he would “eliminate” Khanna and his staffers, the report said.

State Assembly, CA

Ashok K. Bhatt, ran for State Assembly from CA, District 20, secured 3.3 percent of the vote

n Peter Mathews, a college and university professor for nearly three decades, who has run several races over the last decade, lost yet again the Democratic nomination in the 37th Congressional District of California, receiving just 16.1 percent of the vote against incumbent Democrat Juanita Millender-McDonald’s 65.2 percent. McDonald recently sponsored a Concurrent Resolution, recognizing the contributions of people of Indian origin to the United States and the benefits of working together with India, in the House of Representatives. Mathews began his foray into politics in the early 1990s, getting students eager to see him in office, energetically building his campaign. But his relentless quest for public office has gone unrewarded, even as he remains active on local issues, particularly education.

State Assembly, CA

Chonchol Gupta, ran for State Assembly from CA, District 70, secured 1 percent of the vote.

G.M. ‘Bill’ Quraishi, one of 10 Republican contenders for their party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate to fight incumbent Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, fared badly, securing just 1.4 percent of the vote. A professional engineer, Quraishi from Pakistan says he was the Republican nominee for the office of United States Representative in Congress in 1986, 1988, 1990 and 2000, obviously in a district that is heavily Democratic.

His bio on his Web site says he served as a diplomat to the government of South Korea in power and energy in 1977; that he was designated as member of National Defense Executive Reserve by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, now Department of Homeland Security and has been there since 1981. In 1975, he founded and still runs Engineering Management Consultants, a company focusing on power and energy. He has also been in senior management positions at Bechtel, Westinghouse and other energy companies. His wife Karen is a child psychologist and they have three children.

county supervisor, LA

Jayendra Shah, ran for LA County Supervisor from CA, District 4, secured 9.5 percent of the vote.

n Suchita ‘Sue’ Saigal, Fresno Mayoral candidate, secured 20.9 percent of the vote in a battle she launched back in November. In a spirited campaign, incumbent Mayor Alan Autry, however, secured 72.8 percent of the vote. A mass communications graduate from State University of California, Fresno, Saigal, originally from New Delhi, has been an activist and businesswoman well-recognized in the area.

n Jayendra Arvindlal ‘Jay’ Shah lost his bid for Los Angeles County Supervisor, running from the 4th District. He received 9.5 percent of the vote. Shah has been a physician for 4 decades and lived in California for 30 years. He says he has been an activist on health issues for a long time. His bio says he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force where he served as a Flight Surgeon with the rank of Major.

fresno mayor

Suchita ‘Sue’ Saigal, ran for Mayor of Fresno, CA, secured 20.9 percent of the vote

n Ashok K. ‘Ash’ Bhatt lost the Democratic Party nomination in the 20th State Assembly district of California, getting just 3.3 percent of the vote in a field of five candidates and coming in last. Alberto Torrico won with more than 30 percent of the vote. Born and raised in India, Bhatt served as a personal adviser to a member of Indian Parliament.

After moving to California, he became a businessman. In 1992, he was appointed to CA Commission for the Prevention of Hate Crimes. He has also served on the Delinquency Prevention Commission of San Francisco, and the CA Welfare/Workfare Employment Commission.

n Chonchol Gupta, Republican, lost his party’s nomination to run for the State Assembly from the 70th State Assembly district of California. Running against five other Republican aspirants, he received 1 percent of the vote. A third-year mechanical engineering student at U.C. Irvine, Gupta attended the 2003 Western States Republican Leadership Conference, has been a cabinet member on the steering committee for the passage of a city level proposition, is an Eagle Scout, and been a recipient of the Boy Scouts of America ‘National Medal of Heroism.’

Both District 20 (from where Bhatt wanted to run) and 70 areseats with no incumbent.