- Speaking to the Arizona Republic after he announced his Congressional bid, Shah said he’s “proud of the overall record (at the State Capitol) in that I’ve been able to move a lot of legislation, (with the) most number of bills of anyone in my party.”
- Shah is a board-certified physician who practicRep. David Schweikert, the seven-term incumbent, is dubbed “one of the most vulnerable sitting Republican members of Congress” by The New York Times.
- The Arizona Republic reports that Amish Shah, an emergency room physician, has emerged victorious in the Democratic primary for Arizona’s First Congressional District. This puts him in a high-stakes race in November against seven-term incumbent Representative David Schweikert, who is regarded as “one of the most vulnerable sitting Republican members of Congress.” Shah received 16,269 or 23.6 percent of the vote, The New York Times reported.
- Shah, a former state representative from Arizona, was declared the winner by the Associated Press last night. Three affluent suburbs and a portion of northeastern Phoenix are included in the first district.
- The Arizona Republic reported that unofficial results showed Shah leading the crowded field of six candidates by several percentage points. The report also stated that three other candidates “were clustered closely behind him,” including Wall Street executive Conor O’Callaghan, former Arizona Democratic Party chair Andrei Cherny, and former journalist Marlene Galán-Woods.
- Shah, 45, left the Arizona House of Representatives earlier in February in order to concentrate on his congressional campaign. es sports medicine and emergency medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. In 2018, he was elected to the House for the first time, representing a portion of southern Scottsdale and Phoenix in Legislative District 24. He was re-elected from Legislative District 5, which stretches from northern Phoenix to the downtown area of the city, following redistricting.
- According to the Arizona Republics, Shah “kept a lower profile as infighting among the candidates dominated headlines” during the primary. He personally met voters one-on-one and knocked on doors. In terms of policies, the Arizona Republic reported that he “downplayed his commitment to any political ideology and instead ran on his pragmatism in the Arizona legislature.” To the dismay of some of his fellow partisans, he made a point of cooperating with Republicans and was more successful than many of his Democratic colleagues in passing his bills in a statehouse controlled by the Republicans.
- Speaking about his congressional campaign, Shah told local radio station KJZZ that it was “a super educational experience.” “I went from being an average citizen to a man standing for Congress, and there were times when it really surprised me where I found support and where I found resistance.”
- Shah entered politics in part to demonstrate to the public that “this is not a very good system for taking care of the whole human being.” He told the publication he knows what hurdles the uninsured or underinsured face. It results in insolvency. People are compelled to make poor decisions as a result, such as forgoing one or more of their upcoming meals in order to pay for their insulin. These are the kinds of decisions that I believe should not be required of people.
“The national government’s role in legislating health care policy,” he told the Arizona Republic, is another motivation for his congressional candidacies. “He also wants to have a chance to make a larger difference.” Noting that “a lot of health care policy is actually done at the federal level,” he said he wants to “have an impact specifically in that part of policy, but also in several other areas that are also going to be at the federal level. And it’s a chance to make a bigger impact.”
Shah was raised in Chicago by parents who immigrated to the U.S. as engineering students in the 1960s. He attended a Catholic school from grades K–12. He then attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He graduated from Northwestern University Medical School as part of the Honors Program in Medical Education.
After medical school, he worked for LEK Consulting, LLC, an international strategy consulting firm. He completed a Master’s in Public Health with a full Merit Scholarship at the University of California, Berkeley, followed by residency training in Emergency Medicine at New York City’s busiest Level I trauma center. He won the American Academy of Emergency Medicine’s National Resident Research Competition for his work in inventing a new method to provide care for the critically ill.
Shah worked as a full-time faculty member and academic researcher at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, where he taught residents and medical students. He has multiple publications in journals with peer review. While there, he also led the New York Jets Airway Management Team. He conducted research to assist the NFL in improving their emergency management despite worries about potentially catastrophic injuries, and he presented his findings at the NFL Physicians’ Society.
He received his degree from the University of Arizona’s fellowship in sports medicine, a Division I university offering extensive coverage of sports. Ultrasound-guided procedures and diagnostics were the focus of his clinical work and research project. Currently practicing throughout Arizona, he is board-certified in both sports medicine and emergency medicine, treating both adults and children.
Shah started the first vegetarian food festival in Arizona outside of his medical practice as a charitable project to encourage a healthy diet and eradicate avoidable illnesses. It is in its seventh year and draws thousands of people every year. He supports numerous charitable causes in addition to Sounds Academy, the Humane Society of the United States, and other groups that aim to expose kids to the arts and a compassionate society. His three adopted felines are Cousin Oliver, Miss Meowerson, and Hillary. He enjoys basketball, flying small airplanes, and adventurous travel.
