Washington: America born Niraj Antani, a 29-year-old Kutchi Gujarati origin Republican has become the first Indian-American to be elected to the Ohio state Senate. Antani, currently the State Representative, defeated Mark Fogel of the Democratic Party.

A political science graduate Antani’s parents came to the US in 1987 from Gujarat in India and settled in Washington township. Later, they moved to Miami. Antani was elected at the age of 23, to the Ohio House of Representatives in 2014, becoming one of the youngest state lawmakers in the US.

In 2015, Niraj was added to Forbes Magazine’s list of the top “30 under 30” people in the U.S. for Law & Policy.

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