Democrat Pia Dandiya, a former high school principal, has won an open seat in the US House of Representatives after defeating Republican businessman and former Marine Casey Askar in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
The victory came in a district considered favourable to Republicans and regarded as an early indicator of the political mood ahead of other contests. The newly drawn constituency covers parts of Broward County and extends westwards to Marco Island along Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Republican lawmakers redrew the district earlier this year as part of a wider effort to create four congressional seats that would benefit their party. Although President Donald Trump carried the area by 10 percentage points in the 2024 election, Dandiya and Askar faced a closely contested race.
Both candidates had limited name recognition before the campaign, making the contest a test of how a typical Democratic candidate could perform against a Republican in a district with a conservative voting history. Their campaigns focused largely on economic concerns and corruption, issues that have featured prominently in several other races across the country.
Florida’s tendency to release election results earlier than many states also makes its contests an important indicator of broader political trends. Democrats recorded strong performances nationally in the 2018 and 2022 midterm elections but have found it more difficult to make gains in Florida, which has increasingly leaned towards Republicans.
Dandiya, whose parents moved to the United States from India, is set to make history as Florida’s first South Asian member of Congress.
