WASHINGTON: Indian-American Mary Thomas , a government attorney in Florida , has said that she will run for the US Congressional elections in November 2016.

If elected, Thomas, whose parents arrived in American from India in 1972, would be the first woman Indian-American lawmaker to be a member of the US House of Representatives.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, 37-year-old Thomas is a Republican. She is pitted against incumbent Gwen Graham of the Democratic Party, who wrested the Second Congressional District of Florida from Republican Steve Southerland in 2014.

Thomas, a personal friend of Florida governor Rick Scott, told local media that she is hoping to create history by becoming the first Indian-American woman to be elected to the US Congress. So far only three Indian-Americans elected to the US Congress are Dalip Singh Saundh, Bobby Jindal and Ami Bera. From California, Bera is the only Indian American in the current Congress.

“I’m a conservative Republican, a Christian, a wife, mother, and a lawyer. If elected, I would be the first Indian-American woman ever elected to Congress. This would truly be a historic event,” Thomas said during her campaign announcement in Florida last week.

Thomas’s parents, Tom and Annie Thomas are physicians who immigrated from India in 1972.