Indian-American Suhas Subramanian has won the Democratic primary for a congressional seat in Virginia, defeating 11 other candidates, including Indian-American Crystal Kaul.

The first Indian-American, South Asian, and Hindu to be elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 2019 and the Virginia State Senate in 2023, Subramaniam was running for the US House of Representatives from Virginia’s 10th congressional district, which has a significant Indian-American population.

Its current representative, Democratic Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton, announced last year that she would not run for the seat.

Subrahmanyan, 37, was born in Houston to Indian-American parents who moved to the US from Bengaluru. In 2015, he was appointed by then-President Barack Obama as a White House technology policy adviser.

Wexton had endorsed Subramaniam, who is now facing Republican Mike Clancy.

In an interview to news agency PTI earlier this year, Suhas had said that he was contesting for Congress to ensure a better future for America.

He said, “Congress is here to solve problems and be proactive about the future. We should be legislating not just for the next two years, but for the next 20 or 30 years. I want my children — I have two girls who are two and three years old — I want them to live in a better country and a better world than we’ve found them.”

Suhas said he wants everyone to have a chance to achieve the American dream.

“My parents are from Bengaluru and Chennai and they also spent some time in Secunderabad. They came here because they wanted to start a new life here. They wanted to become doctors and you can make a great living in the US as a doctor,” he said.

He said when his parents came here they didn’t have much, but through education and hard work they became successful.

He said, “I want to make sure that everyone has a chance to achieve the American dream. Everyone has a chance to build a great business if that’s what they want to do or be part of a great business and empower themselves financially.”

He added, “But it really started with the fact that our community education is a great equalizer, and if you do well and work hard you can lift yourself up from any situation. I want to make sure it stays that way.”