JJ Singh, Ram Venkatachalam engaged in Virginia house battle
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Arun Kumar- 0
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Indian Americans to battle it out for seat being vacated by Kannan Srinivasan to run for Virginia’s 32nd Senate District
By Arun Kumar
With control of the Virginia House of Delegates at stake, two Indian Americans — Democrat JJ Singh and Republican Ram Venkatachalam — are set to battle it out in a Jan 7 special election for the House 26th District.
Singh won the Nov 23 Democratic caucus with 745 votes, according to a Loudoun County Democratic Committee news release. Sam Nandi finished second with 425 votes followed by former Del Ibraheem Samirah with 323, Loudoun School Board Vice Chair Arben Istrefi (Sterling) with 280, and Lakesha Gorham-McDurfee with 66.
The 26th is represented by Del Kannan Srinivasan (D-Moorefield). He’s resigning to run for Virginia’s 32nd Senate District after winning the Democratic caucus on Nov 16. The 32nd is being vacated by state Sen Suhas Subramanyam, who won Virginia’s 10th Congressional District seat. The special election for the 32nd is also on Jan 7.
Singh, 44, of Brambleton, is president of Retreat Hotels & Resorts, which operates properties in Delaware, Georgia and Massachusetts. He serves on the Loudoun County Economic Development Advisory Commission and previously served in the Office of Budget and Management under President Barack Obama, and as an economic policy advisor to Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware).
Singh’s campaign issues include codifying reproductive rights in the Virginia Constitution, support for an assault weapons ban and safe storage of firearms, lowering costs for Virginia colleges and universities and lowering tolls, Loudon Times Mirror reported.
“We just went to every corner of House District 26th and we knocked on doors and got our message out, and our message resonated with people,” Singh said about his campaign. “Our message was: Tough times call for tough people. And it seemed to have an effect.”
“We’re facing tough times right now with Trump about to enter the White House and (Republican Glenn) Youngkin in the governor’s mansion, and it’s incumbent upon us to be resilient and persevere,” he told the local newspaper. “The stakes are enormous.”
Venkatachalam, 44, of Brambleton, runs RamsConsulting, a business and technology consulting company, and is chair of the Loudoun Transit Advisory Board. He unsuccessfully ran for the School Board in 2019 and for the Board of Supervisors Little River District in 2024.
Venkatachalam defeated Ommair Butt in a Nov 18 “mass meeting” of the Loudoun County Republican Committee, according to an LCRC news release. Venkatachalam said he supports expanding “merit-based education,” parental rights, student safety and expanding junior ROTC in schools. He also supports lower taxes and more economic opportunity.
Venkatachalam told the Times Mirror he’ll also talk to voters about the importance of a Republican victory in removing Democratic control of the House, where Democrats currently have a 51-49 edge.
“There would be power sharing meaning we have to have a consensus and work together for bills to pass in the House,” he said. “It’s going to be a huge factor.”