Washington: Indian American Nikki Randhawa Hailey has won a run-off election to contest for a seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives. Randhawa defeated Larry Koon, a thirty-year incumbent, the longest serving member of the South Carolina House in the election, Raghavendra Vijayanagar, Indian American Republican Council Chairman said yesterday (Jun 23, 2004).

"She is a solid Republican, pro-life, pro-business and with no Democrat facing her in November, she will be the only Indian American Republican state legislator in America and the first Indian American ever elected to the South Carolina Legislature," he said.

She will also be the first Sikh to be elected to a US State legislature, Vijayanagar noted.

Randhawa received 55 per cent of the votes in the run-off to Koon's 45 per cent.

A run-off is held when no one gets above 50 per cent of the votes in the regular primary, which chooses the party candidate.