List of Hindu members of the United States Congress

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This is a list of Hindu members of the United States Congress .

Contents

As of 2025, five practicing Hindus have been elected to Congress, the first being Tulsi Gabbard in 2013. As of the 119th Congress, four practicing Hindus currently serve in Congress, all in the House of Representatives, and all being members of the Democratic Party. [1]

Senate

No Hindu has ever served in the United States Senate. Kamala Harris (D) of California, a former senator who was elected Vice President in 2020, was raised by a Hindu mother but identifies as a Baptist.

House of Representatives

In addition to the representatives below, former representative Bobby Jindal (R) of Louisiana was born in a Hindu family but converted to Catholicism. Current representatives Ami Bera (D) of California who identifies as a Unitarian Universalist, and Pramila Jayapal (D) of Washington, whose religious affiliation is unknown, were born in Hindu families.

RepresentativePartyDistrictTermNotes
StartEndLength of
service
Tulsi Gabbard, official portrait, 113th Congress (cropped).jpg Tulsi Gabbard Democratic HI-02 January 3, 2013January 3, 20218 years, 0 daysFirst practicing Hindu elected to Congress. Retired to run unsuccessfully for president of the United States. [2] [3]
Ro Khanna, official portrait, 115th Congress.jpg Ro Khanna Democratic CA-17 January 3, 2017Incumbent8 years, 118 daysOne of the first two practicing Hindus of Indian descent to be elected to Congress. [4] [5]
Raja Krishnamoorthi official photo.jpg Raja Krishnamoorthi Democratic IL-08 January 3, 2017Incumbent8 years, 118 daysOne of the first two practicing Hindus of Indian descent to be elected to Congress. [6] [7]
Rep. Shri Thanedar - 118th Congress.jpg Shri Thanedar Democratic MI-13 January 3, 2023Incumbent2 years, 118 daysPreviously identified himself as a Protestant in Pew Research Center's survey of the 118th Congress, changed affiliation to Hindu in the 119th Congress. [1]
Subramanyam Suhas 119th Congress.jpeg Suhas Subramanyam Democratic VA-10 January 3, 2025Incumbent118 days [1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Diamant, Jeff (2 January 2025). "Faith on the Hill". Pew Research Center . Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  2. Sacirbey, Omar (2 November 2012). "Hawaii Democrat poised to be elected first Hindu in Congress". Washington Post . Religion News Service. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  3. Kumar, Arvind (15 November 2012). "The first Hindu in US Congress". Indian Weekender. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  4. Graves-Fitzsimmons, Guthrie. "How Faith Fuels the Anti-War Stances of 3 U.S. Representatives" . Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  5. "Ro Khanna Reflects on Gandhi's 150th Birthday". Congressman Ro Khanna. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  6. "Raja Krishnamoorthi heading to U.S. Congress". The Hindu. 9 November 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  7. Bhattacharyya, Anirudh (29 August 2016). "Raja Krishnamoorthi: First-ever Hindu of Indian origin may make it to the US House of Representatives". firstpost.com. Retrieved 7 November 2016.