Indian-American Nikki Haley creates history, wins South Carolina governorship

Indian-American Nikki Haley created history today by becoming the first woman governor of South Carolina, with her Republican party trouncing the Democratic party of US President Barack Obama in the nationwide mid-term elections.

Born to Sikh parents who migrated from Punjab, Haley created history by becoming the first woman to occupy the governor's mansion of South Carolina.

She is only the second India-American to be a Governor of a US State after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana; and also the first Indian-American woman governor.

According to the unofficial results Haley got 52% as against her Democratic rival Vincent Sheehan who polled 46%.

The much expected victory did not come before giving some anxious moment to Haley and her campaign. For some portion of the counting of votes, Haley was trailing behind, and then was running neck to neck with Sheehan before she took handsome lead.

However, the news so far is not good for the rest of the other major Indian-American candidates running for the US House of Representatives, as all of them were trailing when reports last came in.

A record number of six Indian Americans were in the fray. Five of them are Democrats - Manan Trivedi from Pennsylvania, Ami Bera from California, Raj Goyle from Kansas, Ravi Sangisetty from Louisiana and Surya Yalamanchili from Ohio.

Ashvin Lad from Illinois is the only Republican Indian American in fray. In Pennsylvania, Trivedi, a Iraq war veteran, was initially ahead of his Republican rival Jim Gerlach but the latter took the lead later on.

While Trivedi had received 58,911 votes, Gerlach had received 76,197 of the total votes counted so far.

If elected Trivedi would be only the third Indian American to enter the House of Representatives - after Dalip Singh Saund and Bobby Piyush Jindal.

In Kansas, Indian American Raj Goyle, appeared to be defeated by his Republican rival Mike Pompe. In the 4th House District of Kansas, Pompe had received 59% of the total votes counted when reports last came, while Goyle had got just 36% of the total votes counted.

In Louisiana's third congressional district Ravi Sangisetty had almost lost the elections, with his Republican rivals Jeffy Landry taking an inaccessible lead.

Sangisetty, a lawyer by profession, and who Sangisetty, pitched himself as a "pro-life, pro-gun conservative Democrat" had received just 36% of the total votes counted.

Landry had received 64% of the 87% of the total votes counted, when reports last came in.  Same was the case in Ohio with Surya Yalamanchill - a former Apprentice contestant - was trailing behind Republican Jean Schmidt by more than 79,149 votes.

While Yalamanchill polled 62,336 votes of the total votes counted, Schmidt has received 134,361 votes when reports last came in. Republicans are poised to retake control of the House, riding a wave of voter discontent with the direction of the country and the economy as well as unhappiness the White House and congressional Democrats to claim the 39 seats they needed, according to projections by the three cable networks, The Washington Post said.

Meanwhile the CNN and other news networks projected that Republicans were all set to get the majority in the US House of Representatives.

"Republicans rode a wave of voter dissatisfaction with the state of the economy to win majority control of the House of Representatives, while Democrats were poised to retain their majority in the Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections," CNN said.

CNN projected that Republicans would win at least 50 more House seats than they currently hold to wipe out the Democratic majority of the past four years.

The Fox News said the power shift means House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, portrayed as somewhat of a political bogeyman by GOP candidates throughout the campaign, will lose her post and likely be succeeded by minority leader John Boehner.