Chintan Desai, a teacher, to file nomination for Congress in Arkansas

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NEW YORK – Chintan Desai, a teacher in Helena, Arkansas, will be filing nomination for Congress on Thursday, representing Arkansas’s 1st Congressional District.

Chintan, a Democrat, and an Indian American, will vie to take the place of Republican Rep. Rick Crawford who has been representing the district since 2010.

Desai has been upset with Crawford for a while as he played the blame game and dodged questions during the government shutdown, and when he decided to release the Nunes memo in support of President Donald Trump, said reports.

According to his website, Desai will be focusing on many issues, including ending poverty in the next 30 years, healthcare, education, common sense gun legislation, climate change, supporting women and families, legalizing medical marijuana in the state, Veterans’ rights and immigration – specifically helping “dreamers.”

Desai grew up in San Luis Obispo, California and received his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of California, Davis, according to his website.

He then joined Teach For America’s 2010 corps and worked as a fifth grade social studies teacher for two years at KIPP Delta Public Schools in Helena, Arkansas.

He has also worked as the region’s executive assistant along with working for a year and a half on staff for Teach For America Arkansas. He has since returned to KIPP Delta as its regional project manager.

“I moved to Helena to teach, and found a community brimming with promise and potential. I also discovered neighborhoods where the doors of opportunity are closed to far too many. Our jobs may not exist a year from now. Drug addiction is claiming lives and destroying many more. There are parents fighting hard for a high-quality education for their children. And small business owners have seen high speed broadband revolutionize industry in big cities, but have been left watching on the sidelines,” he states on his website.

“This is a moment that requires people who can bridge divides – between old and young, urban and rural, newcomers and natives – the same bridges I have spent my career building,” he added.

Desai had signaled his intention to run For Congress last year.