Khanna advances as Tandon surprises in primary
Indian American candidates faced a mixed election night across the country, with incumbent Ro Khanna securing a commanding victory in California’s 17th Congressional District while several other South Asian candidates fell short in competitive races.
With just over half the votes counted and the race already called, Khanna received 38,105 votes, comfortably ahead of Republican challenger Ritesh Tandon, who garnered 11,337 votes, or roughly 17% of the vote. Tandon’s performance exceeded some polling and market expectations and placed him in contention for one of the district’s two spots in November’s general election under California’s top-two primary system.
Under that system, the two highest vote-getters advance regardless of party affiliation. At the time results were reported, Tandon was competing with fellow Republican Jennie Ha Phan for second place.
Khanna, a progressive Democrat representing the heart of Silicon Valley, celebrated the result in a post-election statement that fra…