Congressman Suhas Subramanyam meets voters in Manassas, urges Indian-Americans to participate in US midterms

Subramanyam, who is seeking re-election from Virginia's 10th Congressional District, said he was witnessing record voter turnout across the state, with large numbers of Democratic supporters coming out to cast their ballots. He also suggested that some Republican voters could shift their support to Democrats.

"Right now we're seeing record turnout. We're seeing a lot of people show up and vote. We're seeing people who are generally Democrats coming out in big numbers, but even there's some Republicans who I think might shift over and vote for Democrats. And so we're feeling really good about the day. I think there's going to be some good news for Democrats tonight," he told ANI.

Addressing Indian-American voters, the Congressman encouraged them to exercise their franchise and become more involved in the political process, including by considering contesting elections themselves.

"Well, come out and vote. Make your voice heard. Your vote matters more than ever, especially at a time when we're seeing record hate in our community, in our country," he said.

Drawing from his own experience of entering politics and winning an election, Subramanyam urged members of the community not to hesitate to seek political representation.

"I ran for office and I won. You can too. If you want to get involved in the political process, now is the time. It's more important than ever," he added.

Speaking about the political mood ahead of the results, Subramanyam said many Americans were dissatisfied with the functioning of Congress and wanted elected representatives to focus on public concerns rather than serving the President.

"A lot of people are fed up with the Congress that works for the President, not the people. They want to see change in Washington," he said.

Outlining the Democratic agenda, he said the party would prioritise healthcare, food assistance and ensuring that public resources were used in the interests of ordinary Americans.

"The plan is very simple. We're going to restore health care, food assistance, we're going to take back all the money that was stolen from the American people and sent to wars abroad or tax cuts for the very richest corporations and individuals. We're going to govern for the people," he said.

Subramanyam added that a Democratic majority in Congress would provide an opportunity to demonstrate the party's ability to govern and advance an agenda that puts the interests of the public first.

Earlier in the day, he also met supporters at a polling site in Sterling, Virginia.

Subramanyam, the first Indian-American elected to represent Virginia's 10th Congressional District, is facing Republican challenger Dave Beckwith, a 30-year veteran of the US Air Force. The district covers Loudoun, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties.

This comes as more than 230 million eligible voters in the United States are heading to the polls across the nation as voting gets underway in the 2026 midterm elections, a high-stakes referendum on the second half of President Donald Trump's term that will determine the balance of power in Washington.

With all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 Senate seats on the ballot, major pollsters and forecasting models project key potential gains for Democrats, who are seeking to capture the narrow majorities needed to take back control of both chambers of Congress.

Democrats hold advantages over Republicans in nearly all of the seven key battleground states that will determine control of the US Senate, according to the latest set of pre-midterm election polls released by The New York Times and Siena University. (ANI)