Who Is Amish Shah, First Indian-American To Represent Arizona In US Congress

Doctor and Democrat Amish Shah made history after becoming the first Indian-American to represent Arizona in the US Congress. He was elected to the House of Representatives from the state's 1st Congressional District, flipping a Republican seat held earlier by David Schweikert.

Shah defeated Republican candidate and former National Football League (NFL) player Jay Feely, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump.

An emergency room doctor, Shah received 52.49% of the vote against his rival's 45.45%. He is the sixth Indian American to be elected to the US House of Representatives.

In a social media post after his victory, Shah called it “an honor of a lifetime” to be Arizona's next Congress member. “To every voter in this district — I pledge to be a Representative for all of you, whether or not you voted for me. Let's end the political toxicity and work on lowering costs, expanding health care coverage, solving our water crisis, and growing our economy,” he said.

Arizona, it's the honor of a lifetime to be your next congressman. https://t.co/RUzwWJWF2B

— Amish Shah, MD (@DrAmishShah) November 5, 2026

Who Is Amish Shah?

Born in Chicago to Gujarati immigrants, Shah completed his undergraduate degree at Northwestern University. He studied medicine at Northwestern University Medical School as part of the Honours Program in Medical Education.

He obtained a Master's in Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, after a full merit scholarship. He completed his residency training in Emergency Medicine at New York City's busiest Level-1 trauma centre.

Shah was the NFL physician providing emergency care to the New York Jets, which Feely was part of. He has a pilot's licence and has flown himself to provide healthcare to underserved communities all over Arizona.

Shah was a three-term member of the Arizona House of Representatives earlier, winning in 2018, 2020 and 2022. During his tenure at the state legislature, he focused on increasing teacher pay and improving public health and safety.

He ran for the US House of Representatives two years ago and lost by a narrow margin to Rep. David Schweikert.

During his campaign this year, Shah focused on lowering healthcare costs and protecting Social Security and Medicare.