Newly-elected Indian-American legislator in Virginia made co-chair of new caucus

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Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat elected in 2019 to the Virginia General Assembly, was appointed Jan. 6, 2020, to a new caucus created to help elected members from different parties reach solutions amicably.

Subramanyam is one of two Indian-Americans elected to Virginia’s legislature in November 2019. The other is State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi who represents the 10th District.

“I am honored to be Co-Chair and Co-Founder of a new caucus created to help all members of the General Assembly in finding common ground on important issues facing all Virginian’s (sic). I promised to heal divided politics during my campaign and this is just the start,” Subramanyam tweeted Jan. 6, 2020.

Even before the Virginia General Assembly begins its sittings on Jan. 8, public hearings were held in Loudoun County, where constituents could air their grievances.

On Jan. 4, 2020, Subramanyam tweeted that the Loudoun County delegation of which he is a part, was halfway through the General Assembly “pre-session public hearing.”

“Thank you to the constituents from HD87 for sharing. We still have  some more constituents to hear from today, and I hope you will come visit me in Richmond during session,” Subramanyam said. The formal legislative session begins Jan. 8, in Richmond, the capital of Virginia.

Subramanyam, a former Obama administration official, represents the 87th District in Virginia, winning by a hefty majority (62 percent) against Republican Bill Drennan (37.9 percent) in the November 2019 elections. He also defeated a slew of Democratic contenders in the party primary July 2019.

Subramanyam was born to Indian immigrants who came to the U.S. in 1979 and later. He attended Tulane University in New Orleans. When Hurricane Katrina hit the city, Subramanyam, the President of the environmental club, organized volunteers to help victims.

He worked on Capitol Hill as a health care and veterans policy aide, went on to get a law degree with honors at Northwestern University School of Law. He  also clerked for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, where he helped re-introduce the DREAM Act and worked on criminal justice reforms.

After spending time as a technology and regulatory attorney, Subramanyam was named a White House technology policy advisor to President Obama, where he led a task force on technology policy.

Subramanyam started his own consulting firm based in Loudoun County after leaving the White House. The firm advises private companies and nonprofits on technology, government regulations, and economic empowerment, his biography says.