WASHINGTON, July 29: Tulsi Gabbard, who trailed behind her nearest rival by over 40 points a few months ago in the race for the Congressional seat from Honolulu, has now taken a narrow but crucial lead of five points in the latest polls, brightening prospects for the first Hindu to be elected to the US House of Representatives.
In a dramatic turnaround, 31-year-old Tulsi has eclipsed Mufi Hannemann and is now the front-runner in the race to succeed Representatives Mazie Hirono in House, said the prestigious Mellman Group, releasing its latest round of opinion polls.
The seat became vacant as Hirono has opted to run for the US Senate this year.
Ahead of the Democratic Primary election in Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District on August 11, Tulsi, a Honolulu City Council woman, now holds a five-point lead over Hannemann, former Honolulu Mayor — 37 per cent for Tulsi and 32 per cent from Hannemann, said the Mellman Group.
“This represents a sea change in the race since our previous poll, conducted in April, where Hannemann led Tulsi by 26 points. Indeed, Tulsi’s share of the vote has increased 21 points, while Hannemann has actually shed 10 points over the last three months,” the group said.
A confident Tulsi says she is on her way to victory, though she conceded that it would be a close race.
Proud of her Hindu religion, she is not Indian nor of Indian heritage.
Her father Mike Gabbard is currently Hawaii State Senator and mother Carol Porter Gabbard is an educator and business owner.
Currently a Company Commander with the Hawaii Army National Guard, who has volunteered to serve on two deployments to the Middle East, Tulsi was Hawaii’s youngest state representative in 2002 and is the youngest woman in the USA to be elected to such a position.
The recent turnaround in the race has raised prospects of her being elected as the first Hindu to the House of Representatives.
Dalip Singh Saund, the first Indian-American elected to the House of Representatives in 1950s was a Sikh, while Bobby Jindal, the second Indian-American to make it to the House, had converted to Christianity.
Having never visited India so far, Tulsi says she is looking forward to make her first trip to the country as an elected member of the House of Representatives.
“As a Vaishnava, I especially look forward to visiting the holy sites of Vrindavan,” she told.
According to her bio provided by her campaign, Tulsi’s spiritual lineage is the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya.
Tulsi is a disciple of Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa, who is a co-founder of the World Vaishnava Association, an umbrella organisation of over 30 India-based and world-wide missions adhering to and promoting Vaishnava teachings.
Notably Hawaii is comprised of a majority of Christians with a significant number of Buddhists (10-15 per cent of the population). The number of Hindus living in Hawaii is relatively small, with only two Hindu temples in the entire state, the ISKCON Temple in Oahu and the Aadheenam Temple in Kauai.
Her religion, Tulsi said, is not an issue for the election, neither it has been a negative factor in her electoral campaign.
Tulsi was born in 1981 in Leloaloa, American Samoa—the fourth of five children of a Hindu mother and a Christian (Catholic) father.
When Tulsi was two, the family moved to Hawaii, the 50th state of the US, also known as the “Aloha State”; which is also the birth place of the US President Barack Obama.
“I am humbled and gratified by the support and enthusiasm our campaign is receiving. The voters are embracing our message that Hawaii needs fresh leadership in Washington DC,” Tulsi said.
According to Honolulu Civil Beat, “City Council member Tulsi Gabbard has overcome an early 45-point deficit to pull into a dead heat with the former Honolulu mayor two months before the Democratic primary likely to determine Hawaii’s new representative in Congress.”
Tulsi, according to local newspapers, now has the clear momentum.
Her recent televised debate performance caught the attention of prominent political bloggers around the state, including Ian Lind who said “We watched with interest as Tulsi Gabbard clearly outshined the field. She was extremely well prepped, and was the image of confidence.”
Latest fundraising reports filed with Federal Election Commission (FEC) on July 15 showed that Tulsi out-raised her opponent in the most recent quarter and has higher cash on hand while entering the final month of the primary campaign.
Her campaign raised USD 320,505 from April 1 through June 30, outpacing former Honolulu Hannemann’s campaign, which closed the quarter with USD 252,392 in contributions. (PTI)
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