The 37-year-old Indian American who has represented eastern Loudoun in the House of Delegates for the past four years says he is eager to address political dysfunction and extremism.
Suhas Subramanyam, a Virginia Delegate and state Senator-elect, is running for U.S. Congress from Virginia’s 10th Congressional District to replace Rep. Jennifer Wexton, who will retire at the end of her current term. The 37-year-old Indian American who has represented eastern Loudoun in the House of Delegates for the past four years won his State Senate bid to represent District 3 earlier this month. He succeeded Democrat John Bell, who did not seek reelection after being diagnosed with cancer. Democrats fared well in the state, helping to flip the House of Delegates and maintain a blue majority in the state Senate.
Subramanyam told American Kahani that he decided to run for Congress because he cares deeply about the community in his home state. He has seen and felt the effects of many changes over the years, he said, adding that he wants to address “dysfunction and extremism in politics.” He describes himself as a “problem solver,” especially when the odds appear to be stacked against him.
After receiving positive feedback from constituents in the “Democratic-leaning” and “diverse” district, the young lawmaker decided to run for the U.S. Congress seat, which overlaps with his state Senate seat. He has won five elections and has “always had a good showing for Democrats,” he added. “I have a track record of success delivering for people all over the district and all of the counties in the district,” he said. His U.S. Congress campaign has already received “a lot of support,” he said, adding that they raised “more than $100,000 in 24 hours.”
According to the Luudoun Times-Mirror, he joins “a crowded field of Democratic contenders” that includes former Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, Del. David Reid, D-Ashburn, state Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Herndon, former Virginia Secretary of Education Atif Qarni, and Mark Leighton, a librarian at George Mason University’s law school. Republican Mike Clancy, an attorney and technology company executive, is the party’s sole candidate so far.
If elected to Congress, he said his top priorities would be “working to protect reproductive rights, strengthening gun regulations, and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.” Noting that he “has a track record of success delivering for people all over the district and all the counties in the district,” he told the paper that voters already know him and that “I walk across the aisle when I need to.” I listen and respond to everyone.”
Subramanyam, a former technology policy adviser to President Barack Obama, made history in 2019 when he won his bid for the House on Nov. 5 alongside Ghazala Hashmi, who won her State Senate seat. Subramanyam and Hashmi, along with dozens of other Democratic candidates, were instrumental in turning the southern state completely blue as Democrats took control of the state legislature. According to the Loudoun Times-Mirror, he was among the lawmakers who formed the Commonwealth Caucus in 2021, with the goal of “encouraging bipartisanship within the General Assembly.”
He is an attorney by training and runs S2 Impact, a technology consulting firm that advises businesses and nonprofits on law, technology, and government regulations. He also worked on Capitol Hill as a healthcare and veterans policy aide. He clerked for Senator Dick Durbin on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he assisted Senator Durbin and his team in reintroducing the DREAM Act and proposing a variety of criminal justice reforms. He also worked as a legislative aide on health care legislation (including the Affordable Care Act), veterans, agriculture, food safety, and education.
His parents and sister are both physicians, and he was born and raised in Virginia. He received his undergraduate degree from Tulane University in New Orleans and his law degree from Northwestern University in Illinois. He is married to Miranda Pea Subramanyam, an international trader who volunteers at the Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter in her spare time. They live in Ashburn, Virginia, with their two daughters.
