Indian American lawmaker Pramila Jayapal's sister Susheela launches Congressional bid

SUSHEELA Jayapal, the sister of Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, has launched her congressional bid from the US state of Oregon.

A former county commissioner in Oregon, Susheela announced her candidacy on Wednesday, aiming to succeed longtime Democratic Party Representative Earl Blumenauer, Oregonlive news portal.

"We need a progressive champion in Washington to carry on Congressman Blumenauer's legacy, stand up to MAGA ideologues, and get things done for our community without compromising our values," India-born Susheela said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

"Today, I'm proud to announce my candidacy for Congress," the 61-year-old Democrat said.

The former lawyer resigned from the state's Multnomah County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday morning to launch a run for Congress.

"It's about certainly continuing the work that I've been doing at the county on local issues, addressing the homelessness crisis, public safety, wages for front line workers, all of these really important issues," Susheela was quoted as saying in the report.

"And it's also about wanting to address the broader issues I can address in Congress. That is about fighting back against, I can call it nothing else but an extremist ideologue takeover of the Republican Party, standing up for democracy, ... standing up for rights.....," she said.

Her sister Pramila, who represents the 7th Congressional District of Washington State, endorsed her Congressional bid. "My incredible sister Susheela just launched her campaign for Congress!" she said in a post on X.

"Her campaign is NOT accepting donations from corporate PACs, so she's relying on support from grassroots donors to win. Can you pitch in to kickstart her campaign?" she said.

Susheela Jayapal has spent nearly two decades serving on the boards of various nonprofits before being elected to represent North and Northeast Portland on the Multnomah County Commission in 2018, CNN reported.

Even though she has spent less than five years in politics, Susheela said her accomplishments as a county commissioner and the trust she has built with community leaders both as a commissioner and through her work on nonprofit boards have prepared her to represent Portland in Congress, according to the report.

According to her campaign, "Susheela will continue to be a strong progressive voice, fighting for the health and safety of our community, championing abortion rights, taking on big polluters and fighting climate change, and standing up to election deniers to defend our democracy."

Susheela, who grew up in India, Singapore, and Indonesia, attended Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, majoring in economics.

After receiving her law degree from the University of Chicago, Susheela worked as an attorney in private practice and later became general counsel for Adidas America, where she was the only woman and only person of colour in senior leadership at the time, according to her campaign.

(PTI)