Vin Gopal Re-Elected: Vin Gopal of Indian origin re-elected as US Senator, won the most expensive election from New Jersey

Indian-American state senator Vin Gopal has been re-elected to a third term in the New Jersey Senate, winning the most expensive legislative race in state history. The 38-year-old Democratic senator defeated his Republican challenger, Steve Dinistrian, in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District on Tuesday, giving Dinistrian nearly 60 percent of the vote and helping flip control of both of the district’s Assembly seats to Democrats. Gopal is currently the youngest member of the New Jersey State Senate and the first South-Asian American to be elected to the Senate in the state’s history. Voting opened in at least 37 states of America on Tuesday. New Jersey’s legislature consists of the State Senate and Assembly and has 120 members from 40 districts. Each district has one representative in the Senate and two representatives in the Assembly who serve four- and two-year terms.

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, all 120 seats will be up for grabs in the November general election. According to the New Jersey Monitor news portal, the Republican-leaning 11th District was a major focus of Republicans this year, with Republicans hoping a campaign focused on offshore wind and LGBTQ issues in schools would devastate the Democrats. According to reports, Gopal’s seat in the district is one of the top targets of the Republican Party this year. According to the nj.com news portal, the contest was one of the most expensive legislative races in state history. By October, the Democrats had raised US$3.4 million and spent US$3.5 million, while the Republicans had raised only US$460,339 and spent US$444,970. According to the report, many outside groups also poured money into the fight.

Gopal, first elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2021, received 58 percent of the vote while Dnistrian received 38 percent. He attributed his success to his constituent services and bipartisanship. After the results were declared, the report quoted Gopal as saying that you all have created history tonight.