Raja Krishnamoorthi is a Democratic Congressman representing Illinois' 8th Congressional District, a position he has held since 2017. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016, he was reelected in 2024, securing 57.1% of the vote to defeat Republican challenger Mark Rice.

Krishnamoorthi is known for his expertise in national security and economic policy. He serves as the ranking Democratic member of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition with China, and is a senior member of both the Intelligence and Oversight Committees. In addition, he co-founded the Congressional Solar Caucus and is the vice-chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus.

As a lawmaker, Krishnamoorthi has advocated for policies aimed at supporting middle-class families, including expanding access to affordable education and strengthening Social Security protections. Before his congressional career, he worked as a Policy Director in President Barack Obama's administration and as Deputy State Treasurer in Illinois.

A graduate of Princeton University, where he earned his degree summa cum laude, Krishnamoorthi later earned his law degree from Harvard Law School. Born in India and raised in Buffalo, New York, he overcame early economic challenges to excel academically.

Meanwhile, over three dozen Indian Americans are running for local bodies and state legislation elections across the country reflecting the growing interest among this small ethnic community to be part of political mainstream.

“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi comments at various Indian American gatherings motivating and encouraging community members to run for elections at all levels.

Probably the largest number of Indian Americans running for local offices are in the state of California, which sends two members to the House of Representatives – Ro Khanna and Dr Ami Bera – in addition to Vice President Kamala Harris whose mother was from India.

Those include Adlah Chisti who is running for County Supervisor for District 11, Aliya Chisti for City College Board San Francisco, Darshana Patel for State Assembly, Nicole Fernandez for San Mateo City Council, Nithya Raman for Los Angeles City Council, Richa Awasthi for Foster City Council and Sukhdeep Kaur for Emeryville City Council.