The Nov. 6 elections to various State legislatures, governorships and mayoral offices around the country may have been dimmed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, but they were of great significance for the Indian-American community. Ten Indian Americans sought public office in New York and New Jersey alone. Of these, Upendra Chivukula, for New Jersey State Legislature, and Parag Patel, for City Council in Edison, N.J., were the only victorious ones.

“Nov. 6 proved that Indians can win elections at local levels if they run smart campaigns and are good candidates,” said Kumar Barve, the Maryland State legislator who has announced his candidacy for the 2002 race for Congress. “When I won an election people said it was because ‘you sound like an American,’” Barve recalled. “Now, Upendra (Chivukula) not only has a name difficult to pronounce, but also a slight Indian accent,” he told News India-Times.

While the 2001 elections did not have federal elections, and featured only two gubernatorial and State legislative elections, and several metropolitan mayoral elections, their importance was no less than any other year ----- especially for the Indian-American community.

According to the Indian-American Center for Political Awareness (IACPA), the Virginia and New Jersey general elections and the New York City mayoral elections, alone, affected more than 100,000 Indian Americans, that is 25 percent of the entire community. The economic downturn, fiscal responsibility, crisis management and racial relations dominated the debates and are relevant to the community. IACPA strongly advocated Indians to vote and make their presence felt at a time when not many were expected to go to the polls following the events of Sept. 11.

Though the only election that got national coverage was the New York City mayoral election of billionaire Michael Bloomberg, some others saw a visible Indian-American presence, as in the case of Chivukula’s Assembly bid from District 17, and Cleveland, Ohio, mayor-elect Jane Campbell’s victorious campaign.

RESULTS

WINNERS * Upendra Chivukula, 17th District, N.J. Assembly. * Parag Patel, Edison Township Council, N.J. LOSERS * Sylvester Fernandez, 18th District, N.J. Assembly. * Naresh Gidwani, 19th District, N.J. Senate. * Kiran Desai, 13th District, N.J. State Senate. * Monisha Merchant, Holmdel Township Council, N.J. * George James, Westwood Township Council, N.J. * Pradip (Peter) Kothari, Middlesex County, freeholder. * Dr. V.J. Pradhan, Clarkstown, supervisor. * Inderjit Singh, 28th District, New York City Council. * Rene Lobo, 29th District, New York City Council.

The defeat of Democratic mayoral candidate for New York Mark Green, in whose campaign many Indian Americans participated, was more a result of Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s endorsement of Bloomberg as well as the alienation of a part of the Hispanic vote, analysts contend.

Not since the 1994 Congressional campaigns of Ram Uppuluri, Neil Dhillion and Peter Mathews has the community been excited about Indian Americans seeking elected office. While 1994 was a year in which they lost, they also managed to learn some important political lessons, observers said. Varun Nikore, 34, who heads the fledgling Indian American Leadership Incubator (IALI) in Washington, D.C., believes Indian Americans are not wielding political clout commensurate with their demographics and success. “It is clear to me that... we have no voting clout, no single organization speaks for us and we are spread around the country,” he told News India-Times. “We also don’t ask for specific things other than world peace or India-Pakistan issues ----- stuff that politicians don’t have real control over.”

After holding the office of Budget Coordinator for former vice president Al Gore’s presidential campaign, Nikore said he believed “we have to get our own elected.” He calls 2001 a watershed year for Indian Americans. “If one state could produce nearly a dozen Indian-American candidates, it shows they are starting to understand the process.” IALI pushed for candidates Chivukula, Patel and Monisha Merchant for city councilor for Holmdel, N.J. Subodh Chandra, a federal prosecutor in Cleveland, Ohio, who closely follows Indian-American political activism, said that while the community was involved in both Democratic and Republican camps in the city’s elections, they were most active in Democrat Campbell’s campaign. “Indian Americans were volunteers, fundraisers, special event organizers,” he said. Aneesh Paul Chopra, 29, the director of Advisory Board Ventures, the for-profit corporate incubator for the Advisory Board Company in Washington, D.C., worked closely with Governor-elect Mark Warner of Virginia. Warner, he noted, is extremely familiar with Indian Americans and his election could spell heightened visibility for the community. Warner was on the board of the Indian Hi-Tech CEO Council.

“He is committed to make his administration reflect Virginia, which means Indian Americans have the opportunity to serve in government and boards etc.,” Chopra told News India-Times. “He is not only familiar with, but is a personal and dear friend of, Indian Americans.

“And I believe on issues that are of concern to Indian Americans, like education, health, crime, economic development and the focus on technology ----- he is squarely aligned with us,” he added. Warner attended at least six fundraisers organized by Indian Americans in Virginia.

Himanshu Shukla, who worked in Chivukula’s campaign, believes that three elections ----- Chivukula’s and those for governor of New Jersey and Virginia ----- will have an impact on Indian Americans. He discounted the importance of Bloomberg’s mayoral election, which he said could not focus on issues as much as be a backdrop of the Sept. 11 events. “But, it all depends on how Bloomberg reaches out to ethnic groups in the future.”

New Jersey’s Governor-elect Jim McGreevey has a “very long history of engagement with the Indian community,” Shukla said. Furthermore, Woodbridge, his district, contains a significant Indian-American community that he has interacted with. “So, what we have is probably the first governor to have a long relationship with Indians before becoming governor. Earlier Gov. Jim Florio got to know Indians after he was elected in 1988,” Shukla pointed out.

Other elections held Nov. 6 included mayors of Atlanta, Georgia and Seattle, Wa., mayoral and city council elections in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Boston, Ma., Charlotte, North Carolina, Detroit, Michigan, Houston, Texas, Minneapolis, Mn. Indian Americans are active in several of these cities.