Who Is Ashwin Ramaswami? First Gen Z Indian-American Candidate To Win Democratic Primary In Georgia

Washington: Ashwin Ramaswami, the first Gen Z Indian-American candidate running for a US state legislature, has won the Democratic primary in the state of Georgia. “In November, I’ll face Republican Senator Shawn Still – who was indicted alongside Donald Trump for being a fake elector in 2020. It’s the most flippable State Senate seat in Georgia,” Ramaswami, 23, was quoted as saying by PTI. Ramaswami is now not only Georgia’s first Gen Z State Senator but also the sole legislator in the state possessing both a computer science and law degree.

Who is Ashwin Ramaswami?

• A second-generation Indian-American, he has a background in software engineering, election security, technology law and policy research.
• His parents shifted to the US in the 1990s from Tamil Nadu, and worked in the IT sector. His mother is from Chennai and his father from Coimbatore.
• Ramaswami went to Chinmaya Mission Balavihar, and finished his undergraduate in computer science from Stanford University.
• He learnt Sanskrit while in Chinmaya and developed an interest in reading ancient texts and Upanishads, PTI quoted Ramaswami.
• “I’ve always grown up with Indian culture and also American culture growing up as well. I’m a Hindu. I’ve been very interested in Indian culture philosophy my whole life,” he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
• A native of Georgia, Ramaswami worked with nonprofits, startups, and small businesses to use technology for the public interest and create jobs. Moreover, as a civil servant, he worked at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on cybersecurity and election security, working with state and local election offices to secure 2020 and 2022 elections.
• According to the report, he also worked as a legal fellow in the Georgia Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division.
• Earlier, Ramaswami underlined that his Gen Z generation is “very aware politically” of what is going on.
• Ramaswami has collected a total of more than 280,000 US dollars and currently holds 208,000 US dollars in cash, according to reports cited by media sources.