Rini Sampath (31), who was born in Tamil Nadu, has entered the race for Mayor of Washington in the United States, drawing attention as the first South Asian to contest the post.
Washington is set to hold its mayoral election in November. Ahead of that, a party selection election to choose the candidate will take place in June.
Sampath was born in Theni district of Tamil Nadu and moved to the US with her parents when she was seven. She later worked in the Barack Obama administration as a policy director at the National College Leadership Council.
She subsequently served as a senior consultant at a leading management and technology consulting firm that provides services to US government agencies.
Sampath is contesting in the Democratic Party’s mayoral candidate race and has secured the support of 4,500 party delegates required for her bid. The Democratic Party has won the mayoral election for the past 50 years, according to the report.
