Hiral Vyas Tipirneni ( ; born September 28, 1967) is an

Indian-American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

politician and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. She worked for 10 years in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

area

Emergency Department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...

s, is a cancer research advocate, and serves on the board of directors of the Maricopa Health Foundation. In 2018, she was the Democratic nominee for special election for Arizona's 8th congressional district, which was called to fill the congressional seat after former

GOP The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP ("Grand Old Party"), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. The GOP was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, ...

Representative

Trent Franks Trent Franks (born June 19, 1957) is a former American politician and businessman who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2017 (numbered as the Arizona's 2nd congressional district, 2nd dis ...

resigned following a sexual misconduct scandal. Tipirneni won a special primary election on February 27, 2018, and was defeated by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nominee

Debbie Lesko Debra Kay Lesko (née Lorenz; born November 14, 1958) is an American politician and a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing since 2018. The district is in the West Valley portion of the Phoenix metropolitan area a ...

in the general election on April 24, 2018. However, she managed to lower the Republican margin of victory by over 16 percentage points. Tipirneni was defeated again in the regular election in November 2018 by an eleven-point margin. Tipirneni ran again in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona as the Democratic nominee for

Arizona's 6th congressional district Arizona's 6th congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of Arizona and encompasses parts of Maricopa County. It consists mostly of the northeastern suburbs of Phoenix, including Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, ...

, a suburban district that was more Democratic-leaning than Arizona's 8th. She lost to the incumbent

David Schweikert David S. Schweikert (; born March 3, 1962) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2023 and since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he first entered Congress in 2011, representing ...

with 47.8% of the vote.

Early life and education

Tipirneni was born in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, India, and in 1971, aged 3, with her parents, immigrated to the United States, and settled in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Tipirneni earned her

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

degree from

Northeast Ohio Medical University Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) is a public medical school in Rootstown, Ohio. It specializes in graduate education in medicine and pharmacy but also has a College of Graduate Studies. Its medical school has partnerships with four pu ...

Medical career

Following graduation from

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

, Tipirneni became chief resident in the

University of Michigan Health System Michigan Medicine (University of Michigan Health System or UMHS before 2017) is the wholly owned academic medical center of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan Medicine includes the Universi ...

, and later became a member of the Board of Directors of Maricopa Health Foundation, the fund-raising arm of the

Maricopa Integrated Health System Valleywise Health (formerly Maricopa Integrated Health System) is a network of taxpayer-funded hospitals and medical facilities in Maricopa County, Arizona. History Maricopa Integrated Health System was founded in 1991 in Maricopa County, Ari ...

Electoral history

2018 congressional special election

In August 2017, Tipirneni, a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, announced her candidacy for the congressional seat representing the 8th district then held by

. She later entered the race in the special election for Arizona's 8th congressional district, following Franks' resignation amidst numerous claims of sexual misbehavior with female staffers. Tipirneni defeated Brianna Westbrook in the special primary election on Tuesday, February 27, 2018.

General election

She faced

in the general election on Tuesday, April 24, 2018. Tipirneni has garnered some national support including endorsements from

End Citizens United End Citizens United (ECU) is a political action committee in the United States. The organization is working to reverse the U.S. Supreme Court 2010 decision in '' Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission'', which deregulated limits on indep ...

and

Gabby Giffords Gabrielle Dee Giffords (born June 8, 1970) is an American retired politician and gun control advocate who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing from January 2007 until January 2012, when she resigned ...

, the former congresswoman from Arizona. However, she has received little support from national Democratic campaign groups. Although a relative newcomer to politics, she has been successful in raising more campaign funds than her opponent and is also outspending Lesko in television ads. A poll published by

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...

on April 16 had Tipirneni with "a slight lead, 46 percent to 45 percent". Another poll published by Lake Research Partners had the candidates tied at 44 to 44. Tipirneni lost by a relatively small margin in a district that has historically leaned heavily towards her opponent's party. She earned 47.6% of the vote to Lesko's 52.4% in a district that voted for President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

by a 21% margin. Tipirneni planned to run again in the regular elections in November 2018.

2018 congressional general election

Tipirneni won the otherwise uncontested Democratic primary. She was defeated for a second time by Debbie Lesko, getting 44.5% of the vote to Lesko's 55.5%.

2020 congressional general election

Tipirneni won a four-way Democratic primary with 53.2% of the vote. She then lost the general election to the incumbent David Schweikert, getting 47.8% of the vote to Schweikert's 52.2%. After election night, Tipirneni sent out a fundraising email asking for funds to ensure her supporters' votes were counted, drawing widespread criticism that she was attempting to undermine faith in the election, and comparisons to

Martha McSally Martha Elizabeth McSally (born March 22, 1966) is an American politician and former military pilot who served as a United States senator for Arizona from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, she served as the U.S. representative for ...

and

Political positions

Her campaign has focused on issues related to health care, education, and retirement security, and emphasizes her "data-driven approach" to public policy. Tipirneni also advocates for "commonsense" gun control measures, comprehensive immigration reform, and a public health insurance option. Tipirneni also agrees that Americans have the

Second Amendment The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...

right to purchase firearms legally in order "to protect their homes, themselves and their families, and for hunting and sport".

Personal life

Hiral met her husband Kishore Tipirneni during the first year of medical school. They have two daughters and a son.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tipirneni, Hiral 21st-century American physicians 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American politicians of Indian descent Arizona Democrats Asian-American people in Arizona politics Emergency medical technicians Living people Medical doctors from Mumbai Ohio Democrats Politicians from Mumbai Women in Arizona politics Youngstown State University alumni 1967 births Candidates in the 2018 United States elections Candidates in the 2020 United States elections