American Indian emergency room doctor Dr. Hiral Tipirneni has maintained a narrow lead over her Republican incumbent in a race for Arizona’s Congress, which as of Wednesday night was too close to call.
If elected, Tipirneni, born in Mumbai, would be the second American Indian woman to be elected to the House of Representatives. Pramila Jayapal, the first, was re-elected this Tuesday for her third consecutive term.
Tipirneni would also be the second American Indian physician after Dr. Ami Bera to be elected to the House. Bera has been re-elected for the fifth consecutive term from California.
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By Wednesday night, Tipirneni (52) had an advantage of less than 2,000 votes against Republican incumbent David Schweikert, who faces an ethics inquiry in the House.
If elected, the American Indian will become the second Democrat to represent Arizona’s sixth congressional district.
Pending the results, Tipirneni told her supporters Tuesday night that she is on the path that she hopes will lead to victory. “We are excited. Thanks for all the support, but we will wait until the last ballot is counted. We want to make sure everyone’s voice is heard, ”he said.
There is the possibility of a vote recount. “Our race was too close to be announced last night. We knew we were doing it very competitive and we expected it to be tight. We need to pool every last of our resources to fund our emergency vote counting effort to ensure full accuracy and full transparency, ”said Tipirneni.
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Tipirneni came to the United States from India with her family at the age of three along with her parents. Her family struggled at first, but Tipirneni’s father eventually landed a job in his structural engineering field in Ohio, where she and her brother grew up in a working-class suburb of Cleveland.
Her mother, a social worker, was the director of a senior center in downtown Cleveland and started her “Meals on Wheels” program. She often accompanied her mother and it was then that she began to feel the tremendous impact that small acts of service can have on another person.
After a childhood illness, Tipirneni was inspired to learn more about medicine, and after graduating from public school, he finally earned his medical degree through a competitive, accelerated program at Northeast Ohio Medical University.
A passionate problem solver who thrives working as a team, Tipirneni decided to pursue emergency medicine due to the wide variety of challenges it presented and allowed her to be the first point of contact for patients. She met her husband, Dr. Kishore Tipirneni, during her first year of medical school.
After serving as chief resident of the University of Michigan Emergency Medicine program, the couple searched for a place where they could settle down, practice medicine and start a family. They chose Phoenix.
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