Pia Dandiya Becomes 2nd Indian-American Woman Elected To US Congress

Indian-American Pia Dandiya has won Florida's 22nd Congressional District, defeating the Republican businessman Casey Askar. The 39-year-old democrat has now become the second Indian-American woman elected to the US House of Representatives, after Pramila Jayapal. A former high school principal, Dandiya bagged 51.9 per cent of the votes.

About Pia Dandiya 

Born and raised in Palm Beach County, Dandiya grew up in Jupiter, where her parents settled after emigrating from Jaipur in the 1980s.

After moving to the US, her father, Dr Rohit Dandiya, continued his medical practice, while her mother, then 40, founded a Montessori school in Jupiter, initially established for Dandiya.

She was raised with strong ties to her Indian heritage, and her parents sent her to India as a child to spend time with her cousins.

Also Read: Trump's Final 2 Years: A Congress Ready For A Showdown With The White House

"Very early on, my parents would send me on a solo trip to India to spend time with my cousins. These trips were life-changing and played a pivotal role in shaping my identity. They helped me understand how different democracies function and gave me a sense of global inequality," she told New India Abroad in an August 2025 interview.

She now lives in Palm Beach Gardens with her husband, Navneet Alag, and their son, Sahib. LIVE UPDATES HERE

Education

After her freshman year at Harvard, she spent a summer teaching English to children aged seven to 17 in the slums of New Delhi with the Asha Cooperative Society.

"Teaching those underprivileged kids, I learnt what truly separates people from each other is not their potential, but their circumstances," she said.

Dandiya studied government at Harvard and earned a master's in education from Boston University. She taught with Teach For America in Boston and, at 28, became the founding principal of Democracy Prep Endurance High School in Harlem, where about 86 per cent of students were low-income, and every graduate was admitted to college.

She was a White House Fellow in 2020, serving on the White House Domestic Policy Council and at the US Department of Education, and later led public-sector initiatives at Apple. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker appointed her to the state's P-20 Council.

Also Read: Republican Vivek Ramaswamy Loses Ohio Governor's Race, Democrat Amy Acton Wins

About Her Campaign

Dandiya campaigned on the cost of living, corruption, healthcare, education and gun safety. "South Floridians are fed up with the rising costs and performative politics coming out of Washington," she told Florida Politics.

The race drew heavy money. Through October 14, Dandiya raised about $4.6 million, while Askar raised about $7.4 million, most of it from loans to his own campaign. Askar's self-funding reached about $6.8 million, Federal Election Commission records show.

No Going Back PAC, a super PAC funded by MAGA Inc., reported spending about $6.5 million against her by October 24, according to FEC filings. House Majority PAC, the main Democratic super PAC for House races, spent about $7.9 million against Askar.

Dandiya won endorsements from the Indian American Impact Fund and Serve America PAC and from Wellington's Republican mayor, Michael Napoleone.