Jay Vaingankar, who is aiming to become the first-ever member of Congress to hail from New Jersey’s burgeoning South Asian American community, is picking up a pair of new endorsements from Asian American advocacy groups dedicated to making firsts like that happen.
The Indian American Impact Fund, which specifically aims to boost Indian American political power, is endorsing Vaingankar this morning. And last week, Vaingankar was endorsed by the AAPI Victory Fund, a political advocacy group that supports Asian American and Pacific Islander Democratic candidates more broadly,
“We are proud to endorse Jay Vaingankar because he represents a new generation of leadership grounded in service and the courage to stand up for our communities amidst an unprecedented rise in hate and costs of living,” Indian American Impact Fund executive director Chintan Patel said in a statement. “Through his work in the Biden Administration, Jay has seen firsthand how federal policy can lower energy costs, expand economic opportunity, and strengthen local communities.”
Vaingankar, a 28-year-old former Energy Department official, is one of three Asian American candidates competing in the packed Democratic primary to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing). Also running for the 12th district – where around 20% of residents were Asian American as of the 2020 Census – are Princeton professor Sam Wang and former West Windsor mayoral candidate Sujit Singh.
Asian American advocacy groups similarly see an opportunity in the neighboring GOP-held 7th district, where physician Tina Shah is one of the top Democratic candidates; AAPI Victory Fund and the Indian American Impact Fund are both supporting Shah as well.
Senator Andy Kim, first elected to the House in 2018, was the first and remains the only Asian American member of Congress in state history.
