In a closely watched contest that drew national attention and roughly $34 million in spending, Democrat Pia Dandiya defeated Republican Casey Askar in Florida’s newly redrawn 22nd Congressional District, securing about 51.9% of the vote to Askar’s 48.1%.
The victory makes Dandiya the first Indian-American (and first South Asian American) to represent Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives and only the second Indian-American woman ever elected to the chamber after Pramila Jayapal.
Born and raised in Palm Beach County to parents who immigrated from Jaipur, India, in the 1980s, Dandiya’s story embodies a classic American immigrant narrative. Her father practiced medicine as “Dr. Dandiya,” while her mother founded a Montessori school and taught generations of local students. In her victory speech, she reflected on that journey: “More than 40 years ago, my parents came to Palm Beach County in search of the American Dream… And tonight, one generation later, their daughter will become Congresswoman Dandiya.” She added that “that story is only possible in this country.”
Dandiya’s path to Congress ran through education rather than traditional politics. After earning a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University and a master’s in education from Boston University, she joined Teach For America. At age 28, she became the founding principal of Democracy Prep Endurance High School in Harlem, New York—one of the youngest principals in the country at the time. The school served a student body in which roughly 86% came from low-income families, yet every graduate earned college admission under her leadership. She later served as a White House Fellow at the Department of Education (spanning the end of the Trump and beginning of the Biden administrations) before moving to Apple, where she worked on public-sector technology initiatives in education and government services.
The race itself carried extra significance because of mid-decade redistricting pushed by Florida Republicans under Governor Ron DeSantis. The new 22nd District, an open seat spanning portions of Palm Beach, Broward, Collier, and Hendry counties, was widely viewed as more favorable to the GOP. Dandiya had initially eyed a challenge to Republican Brian Mast in the 21st District before shifting to the redrawn map. In her victory remarks she pushed back on the redraw, telling supporters that voters had rejected attempts to reshape the district’s outcome. Supporters chanted “Pia, Pia, Pia” as she took the stage in Wellington.
Her campaign centered on practical kitchen-table issues: lowering the cost of living (housing, childcare, healthcare, and insurance), strengthening public education including universal pre-K, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and government reform measures such as banning individual stock trading by members of Congress. She has described herself as focused on “fighting for people” rather than partisan combat.
Dandiya’s win adds to a broader pattern of Indian-American representation in the 2026 midterms and expands the community’s footprint in the House. She assumes office in January 2027, bringing a background that blends classroom experience, federal policy work, and private-sector innovation to a diverse South Florida district.
