Pia Dandiya

According to her campaign website, Dandiya was born and raised in Palm Beach County to parents from India.[3] She started her career as a middle and high school teacher and, at 28, became founding principal of a high school, which she describes as making her one of the youngest high school principals in the country. She says 86% of her students came from low-income families and 100% earned admission to college.[3] She describes herself as a White House Fellow who served at the Domestic Policy Council and the Department of Education under both Democratic and Republican presidents. After the fellowship, she says, she led public sector work at Apple, focusing on modernizing education and health care systems.[3]

Dandiya initially sought to challenge Republican Rep. Brian Mast in Florida's 21st District, then moved her campaign to the 22nd District, which was created through redistricting and had no incumbent running.[5] She won the August 18, 2026 Democratic primary for the 22nd District with 68.6% of the vote, defeating attorney Kaysia Earley.[6][2][5] She describes herself as a mother, and her campaign website said she ran for Congress for her students and her son.[3] According to her campaign website, she campaigned on lowering costs, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and education.[2][3] She won the November 3, 2026 general election with 51.9% of the vote to Casey Askar's 48.1%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[1]