North Carolina’s Nikki Randhawa-Haley, 32, a Republican from District 87, became the first Indian American to hold elected office in South Carolina State Assembly. Haley’s opponent, an Independent, was unable to get his name on the ballot.

Randhawa-Haley, whose parents are from Amritsar, was born and brought up in North Carolina. She said there is a sense of responsibility to Indian Americans in the country as a whole. “Whenever you are part of a small group that does not have a lot of representation, the goal is to do a good job. So there’s a weight on my shoulders that I represent my constituency well and then everybody benefits,” Randhawa-Haley told News India-Times.

Her parents Dr. Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Randhawa, she said, have supported her the whole way.

“My parents are so excited and such a huge support to me and they get all the credit for it. They gave me the confidence, the knowledge and the feeling that you can achieve whatever you set out to do.”

She says her husband Michael was a

co-campaign chair and with her all the way. “I could not have done this without my husband.”

Randhawa and her sister and mother run Exotica, Inc., an upscale clothing store of which Nikki has been Chief Financial Officer. She and Michael have two children, Rena, 5, and Nalin, 2. “When you own a small business there is a sense of urgency and purpose in the way you run it.”