AAPI VOTE 2018: Indian American candidate eyes November after losing bid for Arizona congressional seat

FACEBOOK

Dr. Hiral Tipirneni, center, and her family watched the election results for Arizona's Congressional District 8.

AS EXPECTED, the GOP won the deeply conservative Eighth Congressional District in Arizona but instead of high-fives, there was concern because the Democratic candidate made great inroads in a district that Donald Trump won by 21 points in 2016.

Debbie Lesko, a former state senator, was able to top Democrat Hiral Tipirneni, a physician, in Arizona's special election for the 8th Congressional District. With most of the vote counted, Lesko led Tipirneni 52.6% to 47.4f%.

Tiipirneni, encouraged by the narrow margin of her loss, said that she will challenge Lesko this November.

Lesko, who served as state legislature for the past nine years, was supposed to win. The single-digit victory in a district that Donald Trump won by 21 points and which there were twice as many registered Republicans than Democrats, raises serious concern for the race for U.S. Senate in November.

RELATED: Indian/American candidate's moment of truth

Republicans poured $700,000 into Lesko's campaign to help bolster her chances and to ensure that the deep Red district stays in the GOP hands after a series of defeats in Alabama, Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Big-name Republicans like Rep. Paul Ryan came in to campaign for her.

The race had become a referendum on Donald Trump. Lesko supported Trump's policies on immigration, taxes and health care; Tipirnene ran a Democratic campaign that stressed government-supported health care and saving social security and Medicare.

Her near-upset may show Democrats a route to victory in November when voters decide a replacement for U.S. Senator Jeff Flake.

As of this writing, Tipirnene had not conceded into the early Wednesday, holding onto hope long after the networks had called the contest for Lesko.

Considering the unexpectedly thin margin, one has to wonder what would have happened if the Democratic Party had given Tipirnene the same kind of support. The Indian/American physician, who never ran for public office before, actually raised more money than Lesko, had a more enthusiastic ground game and almost pulled off the upset.

Lesko will occupy the seat for the remainder of the term. That means she must run for re-election in November to keep it. That means Tipirnene will get another chance.

Tipirmeni confirms that she will run against Lesko this November. She tweeted this message this morning at around 10:30 a.m., April 25:

(UPDATED: 3:30 p.m., April 25, 2018 rewritten to reflect Tipirneni's intention to run in Nov.) _________________________________________________________________________________