Indian American political action committee announces slew of new state and local endorsements

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In a bid to expand and increase the potential number of Indian-Americans in local and state offices around the country, a political action committee focused on the community has endorsed another five candidates running for office.

The Indian-American Impact Fund, which is tracking more than 80 Indian-Americans running for office in 2018,  announced April 19, it was backing another round of state and local candidates for the Nov. 6 general elections.

“From coast to coast, Indian Americans are stepping up to run for office and serve their fellow Americans,” Deepak Raj, co-founder of Impact Project, and chair of the Impact Fund is quoted saying in the press release. “These five candidates represent the breadth and depth of talent in our community, and Impact Fund is proud to stand with them.”

The latest round of endorsements includes  Josh Kaul, a former federal prosecutor running for Wisconsin Attorney General, whose campaign focuses on addressing the opioid epidemic, ending the backlog of untested rape kits, protecting Wisconsin families from consumer fraud and polluters; Padma Kuppa, an engineer, mother, and activist, running for Michigan State House from  District 41, who has garnered significant support from local elected officials in a district with a large Indian-American population where the most spoken minority language is Telugu, her mother tongue, notes Impact Fund.

The other three candidates endorsed are, Samir Paul for Maryland House of Delegates, from District 16, a Harvard graduate, working at IBM and for the 2012 Obama re-election campaign, listed as Montgomery County’s 2016 Rising Star Teacher of the Year; Ashwani Jain for Montgomery County (Maryland) Council, At-Large.  The son of small business owners, 15 year cancer survivor, and alum of the Obama White House, Jain is positioned to be the youngest person, the first Asian American, and first Indian American to ever serve on the Council if elected; and Susheela Jayapal, an attorney running for Multnomah County (Oregon) Commission, from District 2. A community advocate for more than 15 years, Jayapal previously served as General Counsel of Adidas America, and in the government, as well as provided free legal services to people seeking asylum, the Impact Fund said.

“As a former state legislator, I know firsthand that state and local elected officials can have a powerful impact on the lives of their constituents,” Raj Goyle, co-founder of Impact and a former member of the Kansas House of Representatives, is quoted saying in the press release. “Supporting talented down-ballot candidates like these doesn’t just lead to good policy; it’s also good politics. This is how we build a bench of future national leaders.”