Jasmeet Kaur Bains, a family physician from Bakersfield, made history by becoming the first Indian-origin Sikh woman to be elected to the California Assembly.
In a Democrat vs Democrat race for the 35th Assembly District in Kern County, Bains took an early lead over her opponent Leticia Perez.
According to the Kern County Election Results website, Bains led the race on Wednesday with 10,827 votes, or 58.9 per cent -- while Perez trailed significantly with 7,555 votes, or 41.1 per cent.
Bains is a medical director at Bakersfield Recovery Services, a non-profit that treats adults suffering from addiction.
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In her campaign pitch, she said she would prioritise healthcare, homelessness, water infrastructure and air quality.
Bains watched election returns with nearly 100 family members, friends and supporters at Tony's Firehouse Grill and Pizza, a restaurant in the northern Kern County city of Delano, where she grew up.
"It's an exciting night... I'm encouraged by the early returns and couldn't be more grateful for the support we've received across Kern County," she wrote in a text message to the Bakersfield Californian.
"I love being a doctor," Bains said, explaining why the decision to enter the Assembly contest was not an easy decision.
"If I want to be the physician that I always dreamed of being, I need to make sure that we have the correct legislation in place," she told Bakesfield Californian.
The 35th Assembly district stretches from Arvin to Delano and includes much of East Bakersfield.
The daughter of immigrant parents from India, Bains watched her father build a business, starting as an auto mechanic and ultimately owning successful car dealerships. After college, Jasmeet worked with her father before pursuing her career in medicine.
When the pandemic hit, Bains was on the frontlines, establishing field hospital sites to treat Covid patients. She has also spearheaded landmark mental health and addiction treatment programmes.
She was awarded the 2019 Hero of Family Medicine by the California Academy of Family Physicians, and the 2021 Beautiful Bakersfield Award from the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce.
Indian-American Nabeela Syed makes history in US midterm polls
Nabeela Syed is 23-years-old and member-elect of the Illinois state general. When sworn in, Syed will be its youngest member yet."My name is Nabeela Syed. I'm a 23-year-old Muslim, Indian-American woman," she announced in a tweet on Wednesday.
"We just flipped a Republican-held suburban district."
She added: "And in January, I'll be the youngest member of the Illinois General Assembly."
And as it invariably happens with these path-breakers, she has notched a few more firsts along the way: first Indian-American elected to the Illinois state House -- man or woman of any faith -- and along with Palestinian-American Abdel Nasser Rashid, the first Muslim elected to the state legislature.
Syed wears a hijab, and some publications noted it.
Kesha Ram, who is now serving in the Vermont state Senate, probably holds the record for being the youngest Indian-American ever elected to a state legislature. She was only 21 when she was elected to the state's legislative body. She ran unsuccessfully for Lt. Governor in 2016. She belongs to the family of Sir Ganga Ram, the builder of modern Lahore who has a Delhi hospital named after him.
Syed was born in Illinois, but not much else could be ascertained about her family, other than that her parents, or one of them at least came from India.
Syed's campaign website says she graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in political science and business administration, where she served as the President of a pro-bono consulting organisation assisting local businesses and non-profits.
"It doesn't seem real, but I am a state representative-elect now and I will be the youngest member of the General Assembly," she told ABC News.
The 2022 midterm will go down in history as responsible for giving the US the first Generation Z member of the US Congress -- Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a 25-year-old Democrat elected to the House of Representatives from Florida. President Joe Biden joined the national celebration of his election by congratulating him in a phone call.
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Syed frames her election as part of this effort by youngsters to claim their place in politics, rather than wait for their turn, euphemism for waiting for someone to retire.
"It is so important for us to have a seat at the table, for us to have a voice in the legislative process," Syed went on to say in the ABC interview.
"People say wait your turn or there is no space for you. We made space," she added.
