Indian American Impact Fund is an emerging power in U.S. elections
The Indian American Impact Fund (IAIF), a political action committee, vastly expanded the influence of Indian Americans in the U.S. elections, which were held this past Tuesday, November 3.
The lobbying group contributed to campaigns of mostly Indian-American candidates, bought advertising and backed Asian American voter turnout operations. It spent nearly $2 million each in Pennsylvania, Arizona, North Carolina, and Texas.
Earlier this year, IAIF raised $10 million, by far the largest fund raise for an U.S. election by an Indian-American political group. Deepak Raj, an investor, and Raj Goyle, a former Kansas state legislator - flanking U.S. senator Cory Booker in photo - founded the Impact Fund and Project in 2018.
IAIF helped make a difference in key states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, says Neil Makhija, executive director. Asian Americans turned out in record numbers in Pennsylvania, including 56,000 ballots they mailed before election day. These mail in votes exceeded President Donald Trump’s margin of victory in the state in 2016, says Makhija. There were an estimated two million Indian-American voters, including 500,000 in the electorally vital states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida.
Sixteen of the 24 candidates funded by IAIF have won their elections. They include four Democrats elected to the U.S. House of Representatives: Pramila Jayapal of Washington state; Raja Krishnamoorti of Illinois and Ami Bera and Ro Khanna of California. The fund also backed President-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who will be the first woman, Indian American and black vice president..
Also elected: Kesha Ram, the first woman of color in the Vermont State Senate; Nikil Saval the first Indian American elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate; Jenifer Rajkumar the first South Asian woman elected to a New York state office, winning a seat to the state assembly; and Padma Kuppa who won a seat in the Michigan State House legislature.
There are seven who lost, including Sri (Srinivas Rao) Preston Kulkarni. The Democratic candidate lost a seat to the U.S. House from Texas by 28,000 votes – 52% to 45% - to Troy Nehls a Republican sheriff who served in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Hiral Vyas Tipirneni U.S. House candidate and doctor
Hiral Vyas Tipirneni was a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House from the Phoenix, Arizona area. She was an emergency room physician and served on the board of directors of the Maricopa Health Foundation, which supports the local public health care delivery system.
She came to the U.S., from Mumbai, at age 3 with her parents. She says she was raised in a working-class suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. Her dad worked as a structural engineer and her mother was a social worker. She earned her medical degree from Northeast Ohio Medical University.
Tipirneni lost to Republican David Schweikert, who also won the seat in the previous five elections, by about 17,000 votes - 52% to 48%. .
Nina Ahmad contested for auditor general of Pennsylvania. Her goals as a watchdog included examining how equitably public money is distributed. She came to the U.S. with her parents from Bangladesh, when she was eleven. She earned a Ph.D. in chemistry. Ahmad lost to the Republican contender by 3.8%.
The result for one IAIF-backed candidate is yet to be announced.
Jobs for Indian Americans in the Biden Administration
Following the election results, IAIF is preparing a Brown Book 2.0, a directory of Desis seeking roles in the Biden-Harris government. The job openings are across federal, state, and local governments. “As the leading national political organization for Indian Americans, IMPACT is committed to making sure that our community is represented at all levels of government and politics,” IAIF notes.
In 2018, IMPACT collected nearly 250 resumes for the first Brown Book, and successfully referred many candidates for leading roles in Congress and state and local governments. To sign up for the Brown Book 2.0, go to iaimpact.org/brownbook.
Contributors to the Indian American Impact Fund
Those contributing $5,000 to IAIF this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, besides Deepak Raj, include: Sanjiv Ahuja of New York, employed at Tillman Global Holdings; Sumir Chadha of Burlingame, California, at Westbridge Capital; Ramesh Kapur of Winchester, Massachusetts, at Medical Technical Gases; Gaurav Suri of Princeton, New Jersey, at Arsecium LLC; Sivakami Sambasivam of Santa Monica, California at GoodRx; Vinai Thummapally of Arlington, Virginia, with the U.S. Department of Commerce; and apparent retirees Ravi Akhoury of Long Boat Key, New Jersey, Narendra Mulani of New Canaan, Connecticut, and Ravi Reddy of Morristown, New Jersey.
IAIF was launched because Indian Americans are under attack by xenophobic rhetoric and regressive policies, despite their rapidly growing population and professional success, said co-founder Raj Goyle. “It is more critical than ever that Indian Americans build and wield political power to fight back.” Deepak Raj chairs the Impact Fund, a political action committee, while Goyle chairs the Impact Project, a not-for-profit organization focused on leadership development and training.
Raj Goyle contested against Mike Pompeo
Goyle was elected to two terms to the Kansas state legislature. In 2010, he was the Democratic candidate for a seat from Kansas to the U.S. House of Representatives. His opponent was Republican Mike Pompeo, currently the Secretary of State in President Donald Trump’s administration.
Pompeo’s campaign put up a banner urging Kansas voters to "Vote American-Vote Pompeo." According to Newsweek, Pompeo’s campaign also shared and praised a blog which read, "Just like his evil Muslim communist USURPER comrad, Barrack Hussein Obama, This Goyle character is just another 'turban topper' we don't need in congress or any political office that deals with the US Constitution, Christianity and the United States of America!!!"
Goyle lost to Pompeo by over 45,000 votes, 59% to 37%, in a heavily Republican district.
In 2013, Raj Goyle co-founded Bodhala, a New York city-based firm whose software aims to create a transparent market for the pricing of legal services. Users of its software, the company says, can save up to 20% on their outside legal costs. In April, Goyle’s firm raised $10 million in funding, led by venture firm Edison Partners.
Earlier Goyle was a lecturer at Wichita State University, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union and an intern to Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign. Goyle earned his B.S. from Duke University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. While at Harvard, he founded a technology company with two classmates.
At his Wichita Collegiate School, in Kansas, he was president of the student assembly and also finished at the top of his high school graduating class. Goyle was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Both his parents were doctors who emigrated from Punjab, India.
Deepak Raj chairs New Jersey State Investment Council
Deepak Raj runs New Jersey based Raj Associates, which invests in real estate and public and private securities. Since 2019, he has chaired the New Jersey State Investment Council, which formulates policies governing the investment of funds and supervises the state’s $80 billion pension fund.
Earlier at Merrill Lynch, now part of Bank of America, he was head of Global Consumer Products Investment Banking and member of the firm’s executive management committee. As director of the firm’s Global Equity Research, he managed a staff of about 700 investment professionals around the world.
Raj serves as chairman of Pratham USA and of the Indian Philanthropy Alliance. He and his wife Neera founded the Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies at Columbia University. A chartered financial analyst, Raj graduated from IIT Kanpur in electrical engineering and earned an MBA from Northeastern University.
Neil Makhija contested Pennsylvania seat
Neil Makhija, IAIF’s executive director, is a lawyer who represents workers, consumers, and the public interest. He is a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and President of the South Asian Bar Association of Philadelphia.
In 2016, he contested a seat to the Pennsylvania state legislature. Though he lost the election, he got 14% more votes than the Democratic candidates in his constituency, who were contesting for national seats. Earlier he worked in the White House and the U.S. Senate.
Makhija earned his law degree from Harvard Law School and his BA from Sarah Lawrence College, New York. He was born and raised in Pennsylvania. He has written commentary on law, policy, and politics for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets.
The Board of Directors of the Impact Fund, chaired by Deepak Raj, includes Ravi Akhoury, former Chairman and CEO of MacKay Shields LLC, and Raghu Devaguptapu, Partner at Left Hook Strategies and former Political Director for the Democratic Governors Association, and Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.
The Board of Directors of the Impact Project, chaired by Raj Goyle, includes Priya Dayananda, Managing Director of Federal Government Affairs for KPMG, Vinai Thummalapally, former U.S. Ambassador to Belize and former Executive Director of SelectUSA, and Mini Timmaraju, Executive Director of External Affairs at Comcast and former National Women’s Vote Director for Hillary for America. Vikas Raj, Managing Director of Accion Venture Lab, serves as a non-voting observer on both boards.
The goal of the Impact Fund, says Deepak Raj, is to help Indian Americans “run, win, and lead” in U.S. politics.
