Washington, Mar 21 (PTI) Indian-American lawmaker Raja Krishnamoorthi has won the primary elections in Illinois.

Seeking his third consecutive term in the House of Representatives from the 8th Congressional District of Illinois, Krishnamoorthi now advances to the November general elections.

Highly popular in his constituency, he swept the Democratic Congressional primary with 80 per cent of the votes. William Olson finished a distant second with just 13 per cent of the votes.

The Republican primary scheduled for March 17 was cancelled.

"I am honoured to be the Democratic nominee to represent Illinois' 8th District once again in the US Congress," Krishnamoorthi said in an email to his supporters.

"If re-elected, I will continue to fight for your priorities in the Congress. And now, as we battle the coronavirus pandemic, I will do everything I can to keep you and all Americans safe and secure. This goal is my first priority now," he said.

In just two terms, the Indian-American Congressman has made a mark for himself in the House of Representatives.

Krishnamoorthi is the first Indian-American to have been elected to the powerful House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. In this position, he emerged as a strong voice for his Democratic party during the committee's impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump last year.

A strong supporter of India-US relationship, Krishnamoorthi is quite often on national television including CNN on various foreign policy and national security issues. He is also a member of the Oversight Committee and is chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy.

Krishnamoorthi is also an Assistant Whip and serves on the Steering and Policy Committee.

In the 11th Congressional District of Illinois, Krishna Bansal lost the Republican primary after giving a tough fight to the winner, Rick Laib.

Bansal lost the race to Laib by just eight percentage points.

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