Subramanyam wins Va. 10 primary with suburban appeal and South Asian support

Meanwhile, a D.C.-based organization dedicated to building Indian American political power in the United States was sending out its own pro-Subramanyam mailers to 90,000 likely voters in the 10th Congressional District, 22 percent of whom are South Asian, with hopes of seeing Virginia elect its first South Asian member of Congress.

The combination — an all-American dad and husband with massive behind-the-scenes support from one of the country’s fastest growing communities — helped Subramanyam beat his 11 opponents in a Democratic primary where most of the candidates were aligned on key issues such as gun control and women’s reproductive rights.

“It’s incredible for our community,” said Chintan Patel, executive director of Indian American Impact, the advocacy group that sent out the mailers. Its political action committee — Impact Fund — spent $600,000 to help Subramanyam become the Democratic nominee. Much of the $1 million raised by Subramanyam’s campaign also came from South Asian donors.

“We’ve seen over the last few years a real awakening within the South Asian American diaspora of the political power we can wield in our government,” Patel said, noting that since his organization was founded in 2016, the number of South Asians elected to office in the country has climbed from about 50 to more than 300, including Vice President Harris. “It’s part of this real trend we’ve been seeing.”

In November, Subramanyam will face tech company executive Mike Clancy, who easily won the Republican primary Tuesday and vowed to wage an aggressive campaign against the Democrat. But, given the district’s steadily changing demographics — including 65,000 residents of South Asian descent — the seat is considered to be safely Democratic, said Erin Covey, who analyzes House races for the Cook Political Report.

“It’s not a district where either party expects to invest lots of outside resources in because it’s just simply not seen as part of the House battleground,” Covey said. “You’d have to see significant environmental shifts for that to change.”

The region’s diversity was reflected in the diversity of the candidates themselves. Three others with South Asian heritage were in the race: Atif Qarni, who is Pakistani American and the state’s former secretary of education; ex-CIA officer Adrian Pokharel, who is Nepalese American; and Krystle Kaul, the owner of a defense technology company, whose family is Kashmiri Sikh.

Among the other candidates, Travis Nembhard and Marion Devoe Sr. are African American, Del. Michelle Lopes Maldonado (Prince William) is Cape Verdean, and Del. Dan Helmer (Fairfax) and former House speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (Fairfax) are Jewish American.

Subramanyam, 37, grew up in Texas after his parents emigrated from India. He previously worked in the Obama administration as a technology policy adviser and won his first election in Virginia — to the House of Delegates — in 2019.

For voters who picked him Tuesday, Subramanyam’s appeal lay in his understated demeanor and in a key endorsement from Wexton, who did not seek reelection due to health reasons.

Catherine Fernstrom, 42, said she saw in Subramanyam someone who better understands local concerns in the area and offers a good counter to the “extreme ideologies” in the Republican Party. “I want [Congress] to mitigate the damage that our extreme, court-appointed officials have done,” she said.

Tom Zaug, 75, echoed the all-American message he saw in Subramanyam’s ads. “He worked as a legislator, as a senator, and he was an EMT and firefighter — he was more of a man of the people in my book,” Zaug said.

Patel said that, if he’s elected in November, Subramanyam will join five other South Asians in Congress.

The expectation from Patel’s group and its financial backers is that any South Asian they help get into office will champion issues affecting their community and broader policy initiatives they care about such as abortion rights, dealing with climate change, improving access to health care and advocating for immigrants, he said.

“We’re hoping that as more and more of our community finds a voice, we can add a strong voice for these inclusive American values,” Patel said.

In an interview Wednesday, Subramanyam mentioned several of the same issues that would be his priorities if he is elected in the fall. But, he said, another major hope is to try to eliminate the ugly political rhetoric in Congress that he believes has led to government dysfunction.

“I’d like to fix the dysfunction,” he said. “I’d like to be part of the solution and a new generation of legislators who just put their community first and care less about how many Twitter likes they have.”

That was the message he delivered to voters at their doorstep as his campaign focused on winning voter-rich Loudoun County — where the 10th District is anchored — while winning enough support in the other counties to remain formidable, Subramanyam said.

The ads — one of which shows Subramanyam allowing his daughter to apply makeup to his face while he dons a tiny pink hat — and the support he received from South Asians are just reflections of who he is, he said.

“One of the reasons, I think, I’ve been successful in elections in this area is because I’m a lot of what the new demographics in this area embody,” Subramanyam said. “I’ve got a family, which takes up a lot of my time. I also have bills to pay, and we’re affected by rising costs.”

He’ll likely convey that again during his contest with Clancy.

For now, he said, he was going to spend some quality time with his family. On the agenda that day: blueberry picking in rural Middleburg, Va., then a night out with his wife, where they would try line dancing.

“It will be my first time,” Subramanyam said. “So, yeah, I’m nervous.”