Burt Thakur first Indian American elected to Frisco City Council

Burt Thakur, a 42-year-old engineer, a military veteran,ad a game show winner has made political history by becoming the first Indian American elected to Frisco’s city council.

Thakur, also the first member of a community that makes up 15% of the city’s population, to get elected to public office in Frisco, pulled off an upset in June 7 runoff by beating incumbent Tammy Meinershagen.

“[I] 100% expected to win,” Thakur told CBS News. “I mean, our campaign did so much work. We knocked on thousands of doors. I think one of the coolest things about the campaign was I had never sent out an attack ad.”

“Well, I’ll tell you what, I’m confident that my win energized the Indian American community for sure,” Thakur was quoted as saying. “I think it not just energized the Indian community, but a lot of our community got energized. I think we had some of the highest turnouts in Frisco races in the last couple of years, but specifically for the Indian community.”

Thakur believes Frisco voters from all backgrounds voted for him because he wants the city to focus more on meeting the needs of its residents rather than trying to appeal to visitors.

“Understanding that we are a city of almost 250,000 people and we don’t have an animal shelter,” said Thakur. “We don’t have a VA clinic. We have 8 to 10,000 kids here who have autism and severe learning disabilities, and parents don’t have relief. And conversely, we have a large geriatric population that doesn’t have an adult or geriatric care facility. And at the same time, driving down the road, I lose my cell phone signal.”

As for his political future, Thakur wants to prove to others and himself that he can succeed in city government first.

“I don’t think my wife wants me to run for office right now,” he said. “Can we have that conversation in like in the last year? Because maybe I’ll suck, you know, I don’t know. Hey, I’m being serious. You know, I don’t know if I’m going to be good. I want to be good … my whole job is to make sure that people now can dream bigger, that they have somebody who’s an advocate for them to pursue their highest excellence. I say, what’s wrong? What’s wrong with thinking big?”

Whether it was joining the Navy only months before 9/11 or winning the very last episode of Jeopardy hosted by Alex Trebek five years ago, Thakur’s life seems to involve a lot of fateful timing, according to CBS News

“The one thing that a lot of people got anchored to was that my story was the quintessential American dream,” said Thakur. “And as somebody who immigrated here, I learned how to speak English by watching Alex Trebek.” Thakur shared that emotional story and became part of game show history.

Thakur told Frisco Enterprise the win brought a sense of relief to him and his team, and the realization of the responsibility to bring voters together following a contentious election.

Calling the victory  an emotional and pivotal moment in Frisco’s history,  Thakur said he was surrounded by fellow Indian Americans on June 7, with many having “tears streaming down their faces.”

Voters rallied around ideas such as an animal shelter or community center, saying they were craving solutions to issues facing the city.

“What we saw was a community coming together across political lines,” he said.