Martin Sheen of ‘West Wing’ fame, fundraises for Indian-American Congressional candidate

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Hollywood’s famous actor who plays a U.S. President on the popular television serial, West Wing, is campaigning actively to raise money for Indian-American Aftab Pureval, candidate  for Congress from Ohio’s District  1.

Pureval, whose advertisements during his campaign are unique and humorous, sent a press release containing a message from Sheen.

“On the West Wing, I was known as the acting President of the United States at the time. Suddenly, the show ended and I became known as the former acting President who needed to find a new purpose,” Sheen begins.

“Acting is what I do for a living, but activism is what I do to stay alive. Which is why, in a moment, I’m going to ask you to make a donation to my friend Aftab,” Sheen goes on to say.

“You see, I’ve played many roles in my life. But deep down, I’ll always be the boy from Southwestern Ohio who was fired from working as a caddie because I organized a walk-out over low wages,” Sheen recalls.

“Nothing will ever change if we don’t take risks. Aftab gets that — he ran to be the first Democratic Hamilton County Clerk of Courts in 100 years — and succeeded,” Sheen notes. Pureval broke the Republican monopoly andlso became the first Indian-American tohold the post of Hamilton County Clerk of Courts.

“There he led by example: he saved nearly one million dollars by rooting out patronage and waste, paid EVERY employee a living wage, and became the first Ohio county officer to offer paid family leave,” Sheen points out.

“Now he’s running for Congress and he’s within single digits of Rep. Steve Chabot. I’m asking if you’ll give $25 so he can hit this month’s goal and close the gap in the polls,” Sheen urges.

Aftab Pureval, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Congress from District 1 in Ohio, speaking to his constituents. (Photo: Facebook)

Pureval was unopposed in the May 9 Democratic primary in Ohio and the party has backed him with a view to turning a Red seat Blue. He is running against Chabot, and Independent candidate Mike Goldschmidt. The 1st Congressional District is in Southwest Ohio and includes Hamilton and Warren Counties. The rating agencies, Cook Political Report, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball, assess the district as “leaning Republican” while Inside Elections describes it as “Likely Republican,” according to Ballotpedia.

Pureval was born in Ohio and lives there with his wife Whitney.

Aftab’s father is of Indian origin and his mother came originally from Tibet.In a flyer emailed for Mother’s Day, he talks of his parents -“Strong doesn’t even begin to describe my mother, friend,” he said. “She escaped the turmoil in her home country and traveled to India where she met my father. They risked everything when they moved to the United States to chase their dreams of a better life,” Pureval adds.

Pureval has worked as the global brand attorney for Olay at Proctor & Gamble. In his community of Hamilton County, Pureval was the first man to serve on the board of the Women’s Fund. He is also on the boards of the Ohio Innocence Project, Cincinnati Union Bethel, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He has been awarded the NAACP Theodore Berry Award for Service and been recognized by the Business Courier as one of their 40 under 40.

Pureval graduated in political science from Ohio State University in 2005 and has a law degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 2008.