Entrepreneur Rik Mehta has become the first Indian-American to win the Republican primary for the Senate seat from New Jersey.

He will face Democrat incumbent Senator Cory Booker in the November elections.

Mehta, a former US Food and Drug Administration official, defeated his nearest rival Hirsh Singh, also an Indian-American, in the Republican primaries held on July 7 by a margin of approximately 13,743 votes, according to preliminary results. Counting of votes due to mail-in-ballots resulted in the delay in announcing the election results.

This is the first time that a New Jersey senatorial race will have candidates of colour from both parties. Booker, an African-American, won the Democrat primary with 89 per cent of the votes. New Jersey has one of the highest concentrations of Indian-Americans.