TWO Indian Americans will contest Washington state’s seventh congressional district in the November election, as five-term Democratic member Pramila Jayapal will face Republican Nirav Sheth.
Jayapal, the sitting member, won 83.3 per cent of the vote in Tuesday’s (4) all-party primary. Sheth finished second with 10.8 per cent. The Associated Press called the race after 53 per cent of the votes had been counted.
Washington state uses open primaries. The top two finishers advance to the general election regardless of party.
Jayapal, 60, is the first south Asian American woman elected to the House. She won her first term in 2016.
She was born in Chennai on September 21, 1965, and moved to the United States at 16 to study at Georgetown University. She has the support of Bernie Sanders and serves as chair emerita of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
The caucus represents nearly half of the Democratic members in the House, according to her congressional biography.
Nirav Shethshethforcongress.com
Sheth, 40, was born and raised in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He moved to the United States in 2008 to study computer and electrical engineering, according to his campaign website.
He joined the US Marines as an aircraft mechanic in 2011. He later served briefly in the Lakewood police department in Washington state and left because of injuries from his military service.
He entered politics in 2023 and is standing for election for the first time. He said break-ins at several of his businesses in Washington state prompted his decision.
“The reason for me running for the office is all this stupidity we’re dealing with because this administration is a complete failure,” he told the Jason Rantz podcast in 2023.
The district covers Seattle and nearby areas.
(with PTI inputs)
