Former Clinton aide Vivek Viswanathan to run for State Treasurer in California

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NEW YORK – Indian American Vivek Viswanathan, who served as a policy adviser in the Clinton campaign, has announced he will be running for California State Treasurer this year.

“I am running for California State Treasurer, beginning today, and announcing my 500-mile run across our state to take my campaign directly to voters. Share my video, like my Facebook page, and join me at http://www.vivekforca.com #500MilesforCA #RunwithVivek,” he tweeted.

Viswanathan said in the statement that he will be campaigning “by running for all Californians”.

Starting “next month, Vivek will begin a 500-mile route through the Central Valley, from San Francisco to San Diego, to listen to voters and ensure that they have a voice in the state government,” a release said.

He also added that he will not be accepting donations from corporations, political action committees or other special interest groups and instead will be seeking the help of Californians to win the election.

On his website, he lists the “10 big ideas” that he will be focusing on, including, generating more revenue by broadening sales tax, start a college savings account for every baby born in California, refinance student debt, enact public financing for all state-level campaigns, allow all Californians to place a security freeze on their credit information without having to pay a fee, promote public health for children by imposing a statewide tax on sugary drinks, ramp up contributions from all levels of government to our retirement system, eliminate California’s mortgage-interest deduction for second homes, protect homeowners and protect California from possible economic downturns.

Viswanathan earned a JD and an MBA from Stanford and studied U.S. history and international relations at Harvard and Cambridge along with earning his master’s in historical studies as a Henry Fellow at the University of Cambridge.

He was also the recipient of the 2013 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans and during his undergraduate years at Harvard, he was the managing editor of the Harvard Political Review.

Viswanathan’s father, Ramaswamy Viswanathan, is a psychiatrist at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center and his mother Kusum Viswanathan is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist, who also chairs the department of pediatrics at Brookdale University Hospital.

“I am the son of immigrants who gave me a chance to get an education and go into public service. We must keep California fiscally strong to give others the opportunity I had,” Viswanathan said in a statement.