Indo-American lawyer Neil Makhija is running for Montgomery County Commissioner in Pennsylvania, becoming the first South Asian and Indian American to hold the position. He has previously held positions in the US Senate and the White House.
Neil Makhija, an Indian American attorney and law professor, got the Democratic party’s candidacy to serve as Montgomery County Commissioner in Pennsylvania earlier last month. He stands to become the first South Asian and Indian American to hold the position of county commissioner anywhere in the state of Pennsylvania if he is chosen as one of the Democratic candidates for Montgomery.
Makhija took leave “to run for this seat and put together a historic campaign that built a robust programme to reach all Democratic voters across the county,” according to an official statement from Impact, an organization dedicated to ensuring that every level of the US government reflects the diversity and values of the people it serves. Makhija holds the position of executive director at Impact.
Now, Makhija will run in the general election in the US in November to decide who will control the three-member board of commissioners in the third-largest county in Pennsylvania. If elected, the 36-year-old University of Pennsylvania law professor, whose parents moved to the US from India, will hold the office of first South Asian and Indian American member.
Makhija has previously held positions in the US Senate and the White House in 2021. He graduated from Harvard Law School with a JD. The Montgomery County Commission, which consists of five elected members, is the county’s governing body.
“Key municipal primary and general elections featuring Impact-endorsed candidates on the ballot were held earlier last month around the nation. Once more, our candidates demonstrated the results that dedication to their communities and hard work can produce by earning historic victories everywhere, according to an official statement from the group.
In addition to Annie Gomez, who is running for the Ossining, New York, school board, Saji Mathew is the Democratic candidate for the Lower Moreland, Pennsylvania, school board, Suhas Subramanyam is competing for the Virginia House of Delegates, and Puja Khanna is running for Loudoun county commissioner.
