Ro Khanna, Ami Bera prevail in California primaries

Even as veteran Indian American Congressmen, Ami Bera and Ro Khanna fended off their challengers in Super Tuesday open primary battles in California, Indian American engineer Rishi Kumar lost his bid to run for Congress.

With 33% votes counted, Democrat Bera, seeking his seventh term advanced to general election with 53.6% vote in California’s 6th Congressional District, while Khanna seeking his fifth term prevailed over Republican Anita Chen in the 17th Congressional District with a wide margin.

However, Rishi Kumar lost in the hugely competitive race to fill longtime Congresswoman Anna Eshoo’s seat in 16th Congressional District.

With 50% of the vote counted, former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo took the lead with 22% of the vote, while Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian took almost 18%. Both are Democrats. Kumar finished seventh among 11 candidates with 6.3% of the vote.

Vin Kruttiventi, an Indian American Republican, advanced to the general election in Northern California defeating two fellow Republicans in the 14th Congressional District, home to one of the largest populations of Indian Americans in the nation.

The businessman polled 17.8% — 5,246 — votes to finish second to incumbent Eric Swalwell with 64.5%, more than 19,000 votes, seeking his sixth term in the House of Representatives.

“I am a 1st generation immigrant. I came to the US in search of the American dream. And California back then was the place were dreams were made real,” said the Indian American candidate.

But the state is deteriorating as it battles homelessness and housing insecurity, and an opioid crisis, Moreover, millions of undocumented immigrants pour into the state because of its open borders, contributing, he says, to lawlessness.

Kruttiventi, founder and CEO of A5 Services, has poured $500,000 of his own money into his race, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

Clinical psychologist Harmesh Kumar also failed in his longshot bid to run for the US Senate seat left vacant by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. As polls closed, Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat, led the crowded race, with former football player Steve Garvey close behind.

Businessman Ritesh Tandon, a Democrat, had also contested in the CD 17 race, but faired poorly, earning only 2,318 votes.

In other races, Dr. Darshana Patel, a Democrat, will face off against Republican Kristie Bruce-Lane for California’s 76th district state Assembly seat, which covers portions of San Diego.

In the 25th Assembly District, Ash Kalra, a Democrat finished at the top with 16,181 votes. He will take on fellow Democrat Lan Ngo with 8,152 votes in the general election.

Tara Sreekrishnan, a challenger for California’s 26th district state Assembly seat, which sits in the heart of the Silicon Valley, lost her race.