Election results are still coming in, and many races won’t be called for days, if not weeks.
But there are already candidates who have made history in the 2022 midterm elections.
Aruna Miller, Lieutenant Gov-elect of Maryland
Aruna Miller will be the first Asian American lieutenant governor of Maryland. She wrote on Twitter after her win, “Maryland, tonight you showed the nation what a small but mighty state could do when democracy is on the ballot. You chose unity over division, expanding rights over restricting rights, and hope over fear.”
Miller, 58, comes from Hyderabad, India, and immigrated to the United States when she was 7.
She completed her graduation in civil engineering in 1989 from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. She took her oath of citizenship in 2000.
She is a former delegate to the Maryland House, was on the lieutenant governor ticket along with Wes Moore, the Democratic governor-elect.
Shri Thanedar, Congressman-elect, Michigan
Shri Thanedar, an entrepreneur, will be the first Indian American elected to Congress to represent Michigan’s 13th Congressional District in Detroit.
He immigrated to the U.S. in 1979 from Belgaum, India at age 24. He bought and expanded a pharmaceutical services company in St. Louis, Missouri, and started a chemical testing company in Ann Arbor.
The victory marks the first time in 70 years that Detroit, a city where 77% of the population is Black, will not have a Black representative in Congress.
He campaigned on support for Medicare for All, reproductive rights, and equitable access to education, and funneled millions of his own money into the race.
Victoria Gu, State Senator-elect, Rhode Island
Chinese American Victoria Gu won a seat in the state legislature in Rhode Island.
“I will strive to provide the best representation I can for all voters, and I am ready to get to work on the many issues that I’ve discussed over the course of my campaign,” she said on Nov. 8.
Although new to elected politics, Gu has served recently as chairwoman of the Charlestown Resiliency Commission.
She was raised by her parents, who emigrated from China, and earned a degree in economics from Harvard. She works as a senior software engineer for LunaYou, a maternal well-being platform.
Linda Ujifusa, State Senator-elect, Rhode Island
Japanese American Linda Ujifusa also won a seat in the Rhode Island state legislature — she and Gu are the first Asians elected to that legislative body.
A third generation Japanese American, her grandparents immigrated to the United States in the 1920s. During World War II, her mother’s family lost their farm when they were forced into the Tule Lake Internment Camp.
Ujifusa graduated from Harvard and received a law degree at New York University. She has previously worked at a Boston law firm and at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Though the number of Asian Americans elected to Congress has steadily increased through the years and is currently at a record high, they remain vastly underrepresented in politics.
A 2021 report found that Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) elected officials make up 0.9% of elected leaders in the U.S., even though they account for 6.1% of the population.
In the federal government, AAPIs comprise 2.8% of all elected officials.