Syed Hussain (left) and Rachna Khanna

Two area Indian American candidates fell short in their bids for local office in balloting earlier this month.

Syed Hussain ran as a Democrat for City Council in Lowell, Mass., and Republican Rachna Khanna sought a Town Council seat in South Windsor, Conn.

Hussain received 1,712 out of 52,735 votes, or about 2 percent of the total number of votes cast, according to the Lowell Election Summary Report.

Six of the nine incumbents were re-elected in the Tuesday, Nov. 3 balloting, including Mayor Edward C. Caulfield and Vice Mayor Rita M. Mercier. It was Hussain's first run for office.

Tops on Hussain's agenda was improving safety and education, and bolstering parks and recreation programs.

The results seemed to catch the Hyderabad, India, native off guard.

"I am surprised," said Hussain, who added that he stayed up nights until two or three o'clock in the morning, for months, working on his campaign.

This year about twice as many voters as a whole showed up to the polls compared to last year, representing about 25 percent of all voters, according to the Lowell election report. According to Hussain, that compares favorably with last year's 13 percent voter turnout.

There was an inverse trend, however, among Asian voters, the number of which was lower than Hussain had hoped for and expected, he said. And though he tried to energize Lowell's South Asian population into getting out to the polls, Hussain said he was disappointed in the turnout.

Hussain said he is not disheartened and left open the possibility of making another run for city councilor in the future.

Asked what he would do differently next time, Hussain's enthusiasm showed no sign of ebbing. "My community people, if you are capable, come out and [vote]. This is your country, this is my country. We have to take care of it."

Part of Hussain's optimism revolves around the next generation of South Asian voters, who are well- educated and likely to cast ballots in future elections, he said.

The lesson this first-time candidate said he take from this experience is to make an earlier start for any future bids he may make for elected office.

Town Council candidate Rachna Khanna received about 2,300 votes from South Windsor voters, only a few hundred votes shy of each of the winners, she said. Newcomers Thomas Delnicki, a Republican, and Janice Favreau, a Democrat, joined the seven returning councilors in being elected.

Khanna said she believes she "accomplished a lot," especially within the two or so months during which she campaigned.

Khanna said she believes she did all she could to heighten her visibility as newcomer to South Windsor politics, spending between four and five hours per day pounding the pavement and knocking on doors — 1,300 of them, she estimates.

"For the two months I had, I worked really, really, really hard," said Khanna. "I was pretty much a nobody off the street and nobody knew me," added the New Delhi native.

Like Hussain, Khanna is not letting what she considers a narrow defeat dampen her prospects of running for city councilor in the future.

"I just need to be more known," she said.