The Indian Panorama

Tag: Suhas Subramanyam

  • Indian American Suhas Subramanyam wins Democratic Congressional primary in Virginia

    Indian American Suhas Subramanyam wins Democratic Congressional primary in Virginia

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): Indian-American Suhas Subramanyam has won the Democratic primary for a Congressional seat in Virginia, defeating 11 other candidates including another fellow Indian-American Krystle Kaul.

    The first Indian-American, South Asian and Hindu to be elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 2019 and to the Virginia State Senate in 2023, Subramanyam is running for the US House of Representatives from the 10th Congressional District of Virginia, which has a sizable Indian-American population.

    Its current occupant, Democrat Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton, had announced last year that she would not be running for the seat. Subramanyam, 37, was born in Houston to Indian-American parents who migrated to the US from Bengaluru. In 2015, he was appointed by the then President Barack Obama to serve as a White House technology policy advisor.

    Wexton had endorsed Subramanyam, who now faces Mike Clancy from the Republican Party.

    In an interview to PTI early this year, Suhas said he was running for Congress to ensure a better future for America.

    “The Congress is here to solve problems and to be proactive about the future. We should not be legislating not just for the next two years, but for the next 20 or 30 years. I want my kids — I’ve got two girls who are two and three — I want them to live in a better country and in a better world than what we found,” he said.

    Suhas said he wanted everyone to have a chance at the American dream.

    “My parents are from Bengaluru and Chennai and spent some time in Secunderabad as well. They came here because they wanted to start a new life here… They wanted to be physicians, and you can make a great life in America as a physician,” he said.

    He added that his parents didn’t have much when they came here but they became successful through education and hard work.

    “I want to make sure that everyone has a chance at that American dream. Everyone has a chance of creating a great business if that’s what they want to do or being a part of a great business and that they can empower themselves economically.

    “But it really started with the fact that our community education is the great equalizer, and you can lift yourself up from any situation if you do well and study hard and work hard. And I want to make sure that stays the same way,” he said.
    (Source: PTI)

  • Indian American technocrat Suhas Subramanyam vows to keep defending reproductive rights

    Indian American technocrat Suhas Subramanyam vows to keep defending reproductive rights

    ASHBURN, VA (TIP) : Suhas Subramanyam, an Indian American technocrat, has vowed to continue defending reproductive rights despite Loudoun County Republican party’s calls to ban him from houses of worship in Northern Virginia over his pro-choice record.
    “Millions of Virginians of every political and religious background support a woman’s right to choose, and I’m proud to have championed reproductive rights for years in the General Assembly,” said the son of Indian Americans who is running for the US Congress in Virginia’s 10th District.
    “To suggest that I or any other pro-choice Virginian should be banned from practicing our faith is outrageous and contrary to the values of our commonwealth and our country,” he stated in response to Loudon Republican party committee’s call.
    “I will continue to proudly practice my faith and celebrate the diverse religious traditions in Virginia’s 10th District, and I will not back down from my commitment to defending every woman’s reproductive right from the right-wing extremists who are relentlessly pursuing a nationwide abortion ban.”
    The Loudoun County Republican Committee called for Subramanyam – the first Indian American, South Asian, and Hindu ever elected to the General Assembly – to be “denied access” to houses of worship in a statement posted on Facebook.
    The statement was in response to Subramanyam’s call for mifepristone —  a drug that blocks a hormone called progesterone that is needed for a pregnancy to continue —  access to be protected as right-wing MAGA activists once again take their push to ban abortion nationwide to the Supreme Court.
    Subramanyam, who served as a technology policy advisor to President Barack Obama, says his family’s story in America began in Virginia’s 10th District when his mother immigrated to the United States through Dulles Airport in 1979.
    His mother, a native of Bengaluru, India, immigrated to the United States to unite with his father, live her American dream, and pursue a career in medicine.
    Subramanyam’s parents raised him to value service to the community above all else. Whether as a Capitol Hill aide, advisor to the Obama White House, an elected official in Richmond, or as a volunteer EMT, he has taken that lesson to heart throughout his life, Subramanyam says.
    “Every step of the way, he has taken on the toughest fights to deliver real results for our community,” he stated.
    After leaving the White House, Subramanyam started his own small business in Loudoun County and served the community as a volunteer medic, EMT, and firefighter.
    Subramanyam resides in Ashburn, Virginia, with his wife, Miranda, and their two daughters.

  • Two Indian American candidates win Democratic primaries in Virginia

    Two Indian American candidates win Democratic primaries in Virginia

    LOUDON, VA (TIP): Two Indian American candidates Suhas Subramanyam and Kannan Srinivasan have won the Democratic primaries for the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates, respectively.
    Subramanyam, of Ashburn, a two-term delegate who currently represents the 87th House district, defeated former state delegate and dentist Ibraheem Samirah by a narrow margin in the June 20 primaries, according to preliminary results from the Virginia Department of Elections.
    “Thank you to every single volunteer, team member, and voter for the victory. We truly could not have done this work, or delivered this win, without each and every one of you,” Subramanyam tweeted.
    If elected, he will succeed state Senator John Bell, who has announced his retirement from the Senate.
    A resident of Loudoun County, Subramanyam became the first Indian American and South Asian to be ever elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 2019.
    A technology and regulatory attorney, Subramanyam served as a White House advisor to former President Barack Obama in 2015, where he led a task force on technology policy that addressed job creation, IT modernization, and regulating emerging technology.
    Prior to that, he earned his law degree with honors from Northwestern University School of Law, volunteering at the Center for Wrongful Convictions, where he was part of the legal team that freed a man who had spent 21 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. For his professional accomplishments and work in the community, he was named to the Loudoun Times-Mirror’s ‘40 Under 40.’ Meanwhile, Srinivasan of Potomac Falls, defeated fellow Indian American Sirisha Kompalli to grab the 26th District of the Virginia House of Delegates, which includes several Loudoun communities, including Brambleton, Stone Ridge and South Riding.
    The newly configured district lies west and south of Dulles Airport and stretches from the Dulles Greenway to the southeastern corner of Loudoun County.
    “Thank you to our amazing team and volunteers and everyone who gave your time and talents. Your work made this possible. And thank you to the voters of District 26 for putting your faith in me. It’s an honor to be your Democratic nominee,” Srinivasan tweeted after his victory.
    A Loudoun resident for almost 25 years, Srinivasan immigrated from India in 1993. He serves as vice chair of the Virginia State Medicaid Board, and on the Loudoun Economic Development Advisory Commission.
    “My experience in both the public and private sectors will serve the residents of Loudoun and Virginians across the Commonwealth well. I will fight for our public schools, stand up for gun safety, and protect abortion rights,” he had stated while announcing his run.
    He most recently worked as a director of finance at device warranty and insurance company Asurion and vice president for finance at celebrity chef José Andrés’s restaurant business, the José Andrés Group, according to Loudoun Now.
    Srinivasan said his values come from experience, including being hit by a truck as a young man and being denied Medicaid.
    In 2019, Srinivasan ran unsuccessfully against Republican Loudoun County Treasurer Roger Zurn.

  • Two Indian American Democratic candidates to run for Virginia legislature

    Two Indian American Democratic candidates to run for Virginia legislature

    VIRGINIA (TIP): Two Indian American Democratic candidates have announced their bids for the Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates.
    Suhas Subramanyam, of Ashburn, a two-term delegate who currently represents the 87th House district, announced March 2 that he will run in the 32nd Senate District.
    Kannan Srinivasan, of Potomac Falls, announced Monday, March 6 that he will run for the open 26th House District, which includes the South Riding and Brambleton areas, instead of the 27th District, where he had previously filed to run, local Loudon Times reported.
    Subramanyam’s campaign, according to a press release would focus on “creating a robust economy that works for Loudoun families and businesses alike, protecting our freedoms like reproductive rights and voting rights from extremism, delivering a world-class education to our kids, and keeping our community safe and healthy.”
    The redrawn 32nd District is much more geographically compact than the former boundaries of the 13th District and includes all of eastern Loudoun south of Route 7 and east of Evergreen Mills Road and Lenah Road.
    Subramanyam, will face former Delegate Ibraheem Samirah, a Herndon Democrat who served one term representing the Sterling area and western Fairfax County before losing a primary in 2021, in a likely June primary for the Democratic nomination in a district where voters have favored Democratic candidates by more than 20-point margins in recent elections.
    Loudoun County Supervisor Sylvia Glass said March 3 that she is endorsing Subramanyam.
    Republican Greg Moulthrop, of Stone Ridge, previously announced that he is running in the 32nd Senate District. Moulthrop ran for the 87th House District seat in 2021, losing to Subramanyam by 17 percentage points.
    A resident of Loudoun County, Subramanyam became the first Indian-American and South Asian to ever be elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 2019.
    A technology and regulatory attorney, Subramanyam served as a White House advisor to President Barack Obama in 2015, where he led a task force on technology policy that addressed job creation, IT modernization, and regulating emerging technology.
    Prior to that, he earned his law degree with honors from Northwestern University School of Law, volunteering at the Center for Wrongful Convictions, where he was part of the legal team that freed a man who had spent 21 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. For his professional accomplishments and work in the community, he was named to the Loudoun Times-Mirror’s ’40 Under 40′.
    Meanwhile, Srinivasan announcing his House run Monday stated, “My experience in both the public and private sectors will serve the residents of Loudoun and Virginians across the Commonwealth well. I will fight for our public schools, stand up for gun safety, and protect abortion rights.” Srinivasan immigrated from India in 1993 and has been a Loudoun resident for almost 25 years, according to his campaign.
    He most recently has worked as a director of finance at device warranty and insurance company Asurion and vice president for finance at celebrity chef José Andrés’s restaurant business, the José Andrés Group. Loudoun Now reported.
    Srinivasan said his values come from experience, including being hit by a truck as a young man and being denied Medicaid assistance. He now serves as vice chair of the Virginia State Medicaid Board, and on the Loudoun Economic Development Advisory Commission.
    In 2019, Srinivasan ran unsuccessfully against Republican Loudoun County Treasurer Roger Zurn.
    He launched his House of Delegates campaign with 20 Democratic endorsements, including Loudoun elected officials US Rep. Jennifer Wexton, state senators Jennifer Boysko and Barbara Favola and state delegates David Reid and Irene Shin. Srinivasan is the only announced candidate in the newly configured district, which has no incumbent. The district lies west and south of Dulles Airport and stretches from the Dulles Greenway to the southeastern corner of Loudoun County.