Creating history: Reshma Saujani to run for US Congress

This could be history in the making for the Indian American community. Yale-educated lawyer Reshma Saujani, 34, is taking on nine-term incumbent Carolyn B Maloney, 60, in a high-profile Democratic primary race. A nimble, unorthodox thinker, Saujani is the first Indian-American woman to run for Congress.

Saujani’s bid has all the ingredients of a David versus Goliath story. The daughter of Gujarati immigrants, Saujani’s story embodies the promise of the American Dream. Her parents came to the US as political refugees after Idi Amin expelled Indians from Uganda in the 1970s. A qualified mechanical engineer, Saujani’s father found work in a machine shop.

Living as one of the first Indian families in suburban Chicago, Saujani faced discrimination. But as a gutsy freshman at the local public high school, Saujani started PRISM — the Prejudice Reduction Interested Students Movement. She said “it was a defining moment” in her life that sparked her commitment to community activism.

Saujani studied in Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, where she worked part-time to pay for school. She also made it to Yale Law School and later, at the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, handled asylum cases pro bono. She has been a lawyer for hedge funds.

“I am not the typical candidate to run for office. We have changed the paradigm of who can run for office,” said Saujani, who is trying to unseat Maloney, from New York’s ‘silk stocking’ district on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and parts of Queens.

“I am a young woman who doesn’t have a famous last name. I don’t come from money. We are the underdogs. We are the insurgents. But I have a gut feeling about winning,” Saujani told DNA.

If Saujani beats the odds, she will be among a handful of current elected US officials of Indian parentage. A win would polevault her into that tiny club with Louisiana’s governor Republican Bobby Jindal and Democrat Kamala Devi Harris, San Francisco’s district attorney.

Excerpts from an exclusive interview:

As the first Indian-American woman to run for Congress, are you counting on South Asian support?
I will work very hard to earn the support of South Asian voters. My campaign will engage the community in all ways. The support is critical as there are 30,000 South Asians in the district — 10,000 are registered Democrats. In primaries, voter turnout is low. You don’t need many votes to win — if the community comes out and supports us they will be the key swing vote in this election. It is the first time that South Asians can determine the next representative from New York’s 14th Congressional district.

When I started campaigning last November I started getting random $25, $50, $100 cheques from South Asian women from across the country. Since I am the first woman running, many mothers and aunts feel very passionately about the election. My friend’s mother has my fundraising letter in her purse; she goes to the temple, shows people the letter and tells them, ‘We must support our girls.’

You have an extraordinary immigrant’s story. Can you share your story?
My parents, of Indian origin, were kicked out of Uganda in 1972. My father was lucky to get a refugee visa and decided to come to the US. They literally threw a dart at a map and landed in Chicago. My parents lost just about everything and landed in the US with nothing. They worked hard to give my sister and me the opportunity to succeed.

I mastered at Harvard and got a JD at Yale Law School. Now I am a legal scholar at Yale. I attended college with the help of student loans and want to give back to the country that gave so much opportunity to my family.

What are some of your approaches on immigration policy, job creation and financial regulation?
On immigration, we need comprehensive reform that allows a fair pathway to citizenship. We must end H1-B visa quotas, so that we are encouraging the best and brightest minds to stay in this country and create jobs here. We should create a visa class for entrepreneurs to help create jobs.

If you can attract 100-250K from a US-based venture capital firm or an angel investor, or your business plan will create 5-10 jobs and/or revenue of $1 million or more, you should receive a ‘start-up visa’.

When it comes to regulating Wall Street, we must ensure its goals are aligned with the goals of Main Street. We must reform our financial regulatory structure to fuel prudent, sustainable and diversified growth. We must incentivise long-term investment in New York city and promote patient capital that encourages Wall Street to invest in clean-tech, high-tech and biotech.

You have said that you are “running on your Wall Street record, not from it”. Will you be a good advocate for New York?
I will be a tremendous advocate for New York. I worked on Wall Street, but I come from Main Street. It makes me a candidate who can bridge the two. That’s what we need in Congress — a bridge-builder.

You have tremendous political experience as a fundraiser, having worked for Al Gore, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. In 2004, you pulled together $1 million from South Asians for Kerry.

How much have you raised for yourself?
In the previous fundraising quarter, I raised about $4,03,000 for the campaign. It remains to be seen how much this campaign will cost. We’ve seen a tremendous outpouring of support from New Yorkers, who are donating to this campaign in large and small amounts. I am confident we will have the resources to win the election.