Yogesh Chawla has defeated Pam Porter to replace outgoing Dane County Board Supervisor John Hendrick representing Madison’s East Side and the Town of Blooming Grove.

Chawla garnered 52.6 percent of the vote in today’s election.

“We’re really eager to start the work to make District 6 a great place to live for all our neighbors,” he said moments after the final results were tallied. “We want to work hard at tackling some of the racial disparities and tackling some of the environmental challenges. We’re eager to get to work.”

Chawla, the son of Indian immigrants, told Madison365 in October that running for office is the next step in his American dream.

“We had the American Dream in our hearts,” when his family came to the United States, he told Madison365. “We had strong support from our civic institutions like public education. That American Dream we had is slipping away. I can see it slipping. We were taught that if you work hard and help your neighbors, opportunity will be endless for you. I don’t think that is the case anymore. I don’t think that American Dream is available to everyone in Dane County right now.”

Chawla is the fourth person of color to join the current 37-member Board, joining Jamie Kuhn, Patrick Miles and Shelia Stubbs. He is the second Indian American ever elected to the Dane County Board.