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George Joseph in New York
In the congressional primary held in California on Tuesday, both Indian American candidates failed to win the Democratic Party nomination.
Professor Peter Mathews got just 22.1 per cent of the vote as against 79.9 per cent for Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald in the 37th district.
In the 18th district, Professor Sukhmander Singh got only 2.2 per cent of the vote. But outgoing Representative Gary Condit, Republican, was also defeated by his protégé Dennis A Cardoza, who won 29,218 votes or 55.3 per cent of the ballots cast. Condit got just 19,798 votes (37.5 per cent).
Mathews, professor of American government at Cyprus College, has been in the electoral fray since 1996. He was hoping to become a congressman this time with long-term Republican opponent, Representative Steve Horn, retiring from politics and the district's boundaries being redrawn. Rep McDonald represented only parts of the new constituency before the redistricting. So Mathews was hoping to improve his performance.
The electoral battles between Horn and Mathews began in 1996. In 1998, Horn won by a small margin. In 2000, Mathews could not win even the Democratic primary.
The winner of the primary this time is almost certain to win the election in November as the district is heavily Democratic. Sixty-three per cent of the electorate is registered with the Democratic Party.
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