WASHINGTON, 7 NOV: Dr Ami Bera was on the cusp of creating history by becoming only the third Indian-American ever to be elected to the US House of Representatives, as five others from the community bit the dust in the polls.

Dr Bera, 45, had a lead of just 184 votes against his Republican rival and incumbent Dan Lungren, when all the votes were counted for the Seventh Congressional District in California.

But the secretary of state, California put the results in the category of “Close Contest”, in which there is less than a two per cent difference between the first and second place for candidates or between yes and no votes for ballot measures.

According to the office of the secretary of state, California, Dr Bera had received 50.1 per cent of the total votes counted, while Mr Lungren had received 49.9 per cent of the votes.

Dr Bera received 88,406 votes, while Mr Lungren got 88,222 votes.

So far only two Indian-Americans have been elected to the US House of Representatives.

Dalip Singh Saund, was the first Indian-American elected to the US Congress in 1950s, while Bobby Jindal, was a House member from 2005 to 2008 before being elected as the Governor of Louisiana.

Gill, 25, was endorsed by top Republican leaders, including Louisiana Governor Nikki Haley [ Images ], New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Governor of Florida [ Images ] Jeb Bush.

The rest of the four Indian American candidates -- Dr Syed Taj, Dr Manan Trivedi, Upendra Chivukula and Jack Uppal – also lost the Congressional elections. Except for Gill who represents the Republican Party, the other five candidates were from the Democratic Party.

Three of them were physicians by profession. In Michigan's 11th congressional district, considered to be a Republican stronghold, Democratic Dr Syed Taj, who originally hails from Bihar and is the younger brother of Syed Shahbuddin, gave a tough fight to his opponent K Bentivolio.

Pollsters were having a tough time in making any projection even when 90 per cent of the votes were counted, when Dr Taj was trailing behind by nearly 20,000 votes.

Upendra Chivukula, who is the deputy speaker of the New Jersey assembly, lost to incumbent L Lance by a huge margin of more than 50,000 votes (about 18 percentages). The seventh congressional district in New Jersey has been a traditional Republican seat.

For Iraq war veteran, Dr Manan Trivedi, from the Democratic Party this was his second consecutive loss to the seating Republican Congressman J Geralch. In the sixth congressional district in Pennsylvania, Trivedi was defeated by more than 46,000 votes.

In California's fourth congressional district, Jack Uppal of Democratic Party was defeated handsomely by Republican opponent Congressman T McClintock. He lost by a margin of more than 20 per cent.

Honolulu, Hawaii.  Former Honolulu City Councilwoman and Democratic state representative Tulsi Gabbard today became the first practicing Hindu to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

"Hawaii is known as the aloha state. Aloha means heartfelt respect and love for others, regardless of their race or religion. I grew up with a great appreciation for the cultural melting pot that we have here in Hawaii,” Tulsi said.  "Although there are not very many Hindus in Hawaii, I never felt discriminated against.  I never really gave it a second thought growing up that any other reality existed, or that it was not the same everywhere.  My experiences in the Middle East, in Eastern Europe, and across the country, showed me firsthand this is not the case. On my last trip to the mainland I met a man who told me that his teenage daughter felt embarrassed about her faith, but after meeting me, she's no longer feeling that way. He was so happy that my being elected to Congress would give hope to hundreds and thousands of young Hindus in America, that they can be open about their faith, and even run for office, without fear of being discriminated against or attacked because of their religion. As a congressional representative, I hope to be able to play some small role in increasing people’s respect, understanding, and love for one another despite our differences.”

Tulsi also received the support of President Obama in her race for Congress. “The president also grew up in Hawaii, and shares that aloha spirit that makes Hawaii so special,” Tulsi said. “I'm looking forward to working with President Obama to improve our economy, focus on jobs, and work for the well-being of all of our people.”

Tulsi states that her main motivation to run for Congress is her desire to be a servant-leader. “I learned from an early age that true happiness comes from being of service to others and not just living for yourself. As a teen I began to experience what it meant to find true happiness by working toward a higher purpose. I started helping my dad with his environmental work, and I co-founded the Healthy Hawai‘i Coalition, teaching children about caring for the environment and maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle. The more I engaged in activities that weren’t just for myself, the happier I became, and the more I wanted to do. I felt that I needed to have more influence on society and policies, so in 2002 I ran for the Hawaii State Legislature. This desire to serve is also what motivated me to enlist in the Hawaii Army National Guard, to put aside my easy reelection to the State Legislature to join my fellow guardsmen who had been called to the war in Iraq, to serve as a legislative aide with Senator Akaka in the U.S. Senate, and to serve on the Honolulu City Council. This spirit of servant leadership is what I hope to bring to Congress."

Tulsi’s  election also makes her one of the first female combat veterans to serve in Congress.

About Tulsi: 

Tulsi Gabbard won the Aug. 11 primary and became the Democratic Party’s representative in the Nov. 6 general election.  On Aug. 16, she resigned her post as member of the Honolulu City Council saving taxpayers up to $150,000 that would be needed to fund a special mail-in election.  Her replacement for Council District 6 will be chosen in the general election.  

As a member of the Hawai‘i National Guard, Tulsi Gabbard served two tours of duty in the Middle East. She was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for her service and currently serves as a Captain.
A Democrat, Tulsi was the youngest person elected in Hawai‘i history, when in 2002 at the age of 21, she won a Hawai‘i State House seat.  Two years later, Tulsi gave up her position in the Legislature to voluntarily join her fellow soldiers being deployed to a war zone in Iraq.  Between her two deployments to the Middle East, Tulsi served as an aide to U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka.  In 2010 she was elected to the Honolulu City Council where she chaired the Safety, Economic Development, and Government Affairs committee. 

Tulsi’s endorsements include President Obama, Emily’s List, Equality Hawai’i, the Sierra Club and VoteVets.org.