WASHINGTON, Oct 19: Indian-American Ricky Gill, a Republican candidate in California, is all poised to make an upset in the November 6 elections by defeating the three-time incumbent from the Democratic Party, a US newspaper has said.
Gill, who is just 25, is the Republican Congressional candidate from California’s 9th district and is pitched against the three-time Democratic incumbent Jerry McNerney.
“Insiders on both sides of the aisle agree that Gill has become a serious threat to McNerney. Democrats are scratching their heads in disbelief over the development, while Republicans are simply happy with the situation,” political analyst Stuart Rothenberg wrote in the Roll Call newspaper listing it as one of the four possible upset Congressional seats for the November 6 elections.
A recent poll found that Gill was leading McNerney by a margin of one point with nine per cent of voters undecided.
Gill, has drawn national attention and has been endorsed by top Republican leaders including former Governor of Florida Jebb Bush, Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley.
He has outraised McNerney.
In the third quarter ending September 30, Gill raised more than USD 2.3 million over the course of the campaign, almost exclusively from individual donors, ending the period with over USD 1.1 million cash on hand.
In all, he has raised a whooping USD 2.3 million during the campaign, as against less than USD 2 million of McNerney, who has served almost six years in Congress.
If elected, Gill would be only the third Indian-American to be elected to the US House of Representatives.
Dalip Singh Saund was first Indian-American elected to House of Representatives in 1950s, while Bobby Jindal, now the Louisiana Governor, was the second one.
Besides Gill, five other Indian-American candidates are in the race for a Congressional seat. All of them are Democratic Party candidate. They are Upendra Chivukula from New Jersey, Ami Bera and Jack Uppal from California, Manan Trivedi from Pennsylvania and Syed Taj from Michigan. (PTI)
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