Suhas Subramanyam is an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

and member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

, representing the 87th district. A Democrat, he was elected in 2019 and became the first

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 ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

n, and Hindu to ever be elected to the Virginia General Assembly. He previously served as a

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

advisor to

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

Early life and education

Subramanyam was born to Indian

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

from

Bengaluru, India Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

who came to the United States through

Dulles Airport Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and F ...

in Virginia and eventually settled in Houston, Texas. He attended Clear Lake High School and earned his bachelor's degree in Philosophy from

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pu ...

Career

Subramanyam served as a legislative aide for health care and veterans policy in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

after college and also clerked for the U.S Senate Judiciary Committee for

Senator Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Durbin has served as the Senate De ...

, helping him reintroduce the

DREAM Act The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal to grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, to illegal immigrants who entered the United States ...

. He attended

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law schoo ...

, where as a second year law student he helped overturn the wrongful conviction of a man sentenced to life in prison. In 2015, Subramanyam was appointed to serve as a

technology policy advisor in the administration of

President Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. He led a task force on technology policy that addressed job creation, IT modernization, and regulating emerging technology.

Virginia House of Delegates

Elections

2019 In the

2019 Virginia House of Delegates election The 2019 Virginia House of Delegates election was held on Tuesday, November 5, 2019, concurrently with the elections for the Senate of Virginia, to elect members to the 161st Virginia General Assembly. All 100 seats in the Virginia House of Del ...

, Subramanyam ran to succeed Democrat John Bell, who left the seat to run for the 13th district of the

Virginia Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Vir ...

. He faced a crowded primary, running against three other first-generation Americans. He won the primary with 47.0% of the vote. In the general election, Subramanyam ran on a platform to improve education, healthcare and traffic in the region and across Virginia. Subramanyam went on to win the general election with 62.0% of the vote. 2021 Subramanyam won a second term in the

2021 Virginia House of Delegates election The 2021 Virginia House of Delegates election for the 162nd Virginia General Assembly were held on November 2, 2021 to coincide with biennial elections in the U.S. state of Virginia. All 100 Delegates are elected to two-year terms in single-me ...

, defeating Republican Gregory Moulthrop by more than double digits.

Policy Positions

In 2021, Subramanyam co-founded the General Assembly's first Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus. He is also the co-founder and co-chair of Virginia Commonwealth Caucus, a group of lawmakers seeking to bridge partisan divides.

Electoral history

Personal life

Suhas lives in Loudoun County, Virginia with his wife Miranda and daughters. An attorney, he serves on the Loudoun Health Council and volunteers as an EMT/firefighter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Subramanyam, Suhas Living people 21st-century American politicians Politicians from Houston 1983 births People from Harris County, Texas American politicians of Indian descent American Hindus Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates People from Ashburn, Virginia