Desi candidates in California set to November showdown

The June 5 US presidential primary elections though did not give a lead to any Asian Indian candidates vying election from California, but they are lucky to run for the general election in November thanks to the open primary rule that was adopted by the state.

This new open primary system means that the voter can vote for any candidate, regardless of what party preference he or she has indicated on the voter registration form.

Only two candidates receiving the most votes -- regardless of party preference -- move on to the general election. 

Twenty five-year-old Ricky Gill, a native of San Joaquin County and a candidate for the US Congress in California's 9th Congressional District, earned about 28,652 votes (close to 10 per cent) less than his opponent and Democrat Jerry McNerney who has been representative since 2007.

McNerney with 35,088 votes will face off against Gill again in the November general election.

Making his remarks on the results of the open primary election from his campaign headquarters, Gill, the youngest candidate of all, said: "Your attendance confirms that we are on a strong footing as we move past the primary and on to the general election."

He said that his campaign began with a simple premise and a basic idea that the people of the 9th District are capable of representing themselves in the US Congress.

Gill, born and raised in Lodi, California and the son of immigrant parents, said: "But our work is not done. As we close one chapter in our common endeavour, we begin another."

Another Asian Indian candidate vying for general election from US Congress District 7, Ami Bera of Elk Grove -- a Democrat and doctor by profession -- was opposed by US Republican Representative Dan Lungren.

According to results from primary election, Lungren had 52 per cent of the votes while Bera had 42 per cent.

Ami Bera later told rediff.com, "I am honoured to be the nominee for California's Seventh Congressional District. This will be one of the tightest races in the country and I will work every day towards victory in November."

Another Candidate, Jack Uppal -- a 2012 Democratic candidate seeking election to the US House representing the 4th Congressional District of California -- said: "We advance to the November race. Our goal in the primary was always to come in 2nd because we did not plan on doing much campaigning (or much money) in the runoff to the primary.  We have more than hope; we still expect to win in November."

Uppal who will be facing Republican Tom McClintock in November, got 49,473 votes while the latter polled 88,362 votes.

Attorney Harmeet K Dhillon, running for State Senate District 11, will be heading to the November election. Her opponent Mark Leno, Democrat, earned 88,446 votes and Dhillon, who decided at the last moment to run for the election, succeeded in getting 20,073 (about 18 per cent of the votes).

On the local state council level, Ash Kalra -- incumbent from San Jose District 2 -- made a lead with a narrow margin against Tim Murphy, an engineer.

Kalra and Murphy earned 4,344 and 3,917 votes respectively.