The Delhi-born Republican will challenge the Democrat incumbent from the 34th District.
Fairfax County Republican Puneet Ahluwalia has announced his run for the Virginia House of Delegates from the 34th District against the incumbent Democrat Kathleen Murphy.
The Delhi-born Ahluwalia, who is the 10th District Representative on the Virginia Republican State Central Committee, filed paperwork with the State Department of Elections on Thursday.
“The success of our community demands us to be active and participate in mainstream politics,” he said, talking to The American Bazaar on Thursday night after filing the papers. “It is our responsibility to strengthen the diversity of our nation. Our experience intellectual and business acumen should be supporting President Trump and Republican leadership in creating and promoting American jobs with strong emphasis on balanced trade between US-Indo Pacific Region.”
Ahluwalia, a resident of McLean, just outside Washington, DC, is a consultant at the Livingston Group, founded by former Republican congressman Bob Livingston, and a managing partner at New World Strategies, LLC, a lobby and consulting firm, based in the Washington area.
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A Delhi Public School (DPS) alumnus, Ahluwalia immigrated to the United States in 1990. He has been an active participant in GOP politics in the past two decades.
He has been one of the staunchest Indian American backers of Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Virginia, whom he considers a mentor, in her last two congressional campaigns. A member of the Trump-Pence campaign’s Asian Pacific Advisory Committee, he had served as a financial chair of the Asian American presidential inaugural ball in January.
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Ahluwalia told The Bazaar that he “is in it to win it,” adding, “I have the support of my wife, Nadia, kids and friends, and supporters and very importantly the leadership of the Republican party, especially Barbara Comstock.”
District 34, one of the most affluent assembly districts in the state, includes parts of Fairfax and Loudoun counties. It is also one of the more competitive districts in the state. The last Republican to win the seat was Comstock, who defeated Murphy, the current incumbent by just 422 votes. After Comstock got elected to the US House of Representatives, Murphy ran for the seat again and won. The margin was a mere 326.
Members of the Virginia House of Delegates are reelected every two years. The general election is due in November, this year.
Ahluwalia is the second Indian American to announce run for the Virginia House of Delegates. Earlier this week, fellow Northern Virginia Republican Subba Rao Kolla announced his run from the 87th district.
No Indian American has served in the Virginia House of Delegates, or the state Senate.
Speaking to The Bazaar, Ahluwalia said he will run on issues such as creating jobs and fighting terrorism. “We should not lose focus on eradicating terrorism and enemies of democracies,” he said.
The Indian American said that he would work to strengthen the Republican Party’s base in Virginia, among other things.
“We will watch our allies’ back and it is important that communities, including the Indian American community that has benefited most from this great nation, play a pivotal role in the revival process,” he said. “I had a choice [to do other things] but I chose to stand-up and participate in the political process and serve the public of 34th district. Our nation is at a crossroad where we will take new positive direction as we embark on a journey to make our nation stronger.”