Dr V J Pradhan has been re-elected unopposed as a legislator in Rockland County, New York, from the 14th District. This is the third time he has won the seat, which has a four-year term.
Dr Pradhan, a Democrat, continues to be the highest-ranking elected Indian American official in the state of New York.
Another Indian American, Thomas Ninan, secretary of the Hudson Valley Malayalee Association, has declared his candidacy for the adjoining District 9 as a Democrat. If elected, the community will have two members in the 17-member county legislature. The legislature and the County Executive run the county, one of the richest in the state. More than 6,000 Indians live there.
Endorsed by four parties -- the Democratic Party, the Independence Party, Conservative Party and Working Families Party -- few doubted the chances of Dr Pradhan, 58, a dentist with many achievements as county legislator. Major labor unions and teachers unions also backed him. Nobody from the Republican Party came forward to fight the legislator. In 2003, he defeated his Republican opponent George Hoehmann, winning 1,795 votes of the 3,402 votes polled. He began his legislative career in 1997. In 1999 he was re-elected with 68 percent of the votes for a four-year term.
"People know what I have done. They know me very well. Naturally, my opponents felt that a contest might be useless," Dr Pradhan said, adding that he had always sought bipartisan support for issues. He is the chairman of the powerful Planning and Public Works Committee and vice chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.
He plans to contest for higher office such as state senator. "I want to see how many votes I get in the election. Though there is no opponent, people have a chance to vote in the election. So I continue the campaign," he said.
The aging of the Tappan Zee Bridge, that connects the county to New York City, is a major concern for elected officials. Also, they are worried about flights from Newark airport over the county. "Every five minutes, a plane flies over the county. We have approached the FAA to change the route," he said.
His wife Vaibhavi is also a dentist. Their only child Salil is a pediatrician in Arizona.
"People in this country helped me succeed, and I now have an obligation to help them," Dr Pradhan said.
Though proud of his ethnicity, he dislikes being called an Indian-American politician. He says he has worked hard to gain acceptance with all voters and residents, not just one ethnic group.
His major achievement was enacting a law that requires carbon monoxide detectors be present in all homes. Another law prohibited the use of camera phones in certain places.
Ninan served in the army as a communication engineer and continues to be an active member of the National Guard. He was endorsed by Democrats and Independents. District 9 (Clarkstown, Ramapo) has about 11,000 voters.
Registered Democratic voters number about 4,500 and the number of Republicans is about 2,500. Non-party voters are about 2,600. Indian voters number about 300.
The incumbent, Jerold Bierker, is a Republican.
"Over the years the demography of the district has changed. The Republicans won the last two terms by a narrow margin. So my chances are bright this time," says Ninan, 38, a state employee till recently.
His wife is a school teacher. They have three children.
