Raja Krishnamoorthi ranked 24 among 50 Most Powerful Chicagoans
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Arun Kumar- 0
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Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has been ranked 24 in its list of 50 most powerful Chicagoans by the windy city’s influential Chicago magazine.
Krishnamoorthi is the highest-ranked individual of South Asian descent on the list of “heavy hitters who know how to use their influence to make things happen in Chicago and beyond.” The Power 50 list is topped by Illinois Governor J B Pritzker followed by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
READ: Raja Krishnamoorthi receives 2023 Roosevelt Leadership Award (September 18, 2023)
Now in his fourth term representing Illinois’ 8th District in the US House of Representatives, Krishnamoorthi, 50, a Democrat may be planning a Senate run in 2026 if incumbent Dick Durbin retires, the magazine suggested.
The Congressman “has $14.4 million in his campaign coffers — more than three times as much as any other congressional representative from Illinois, and the third-highest total in the entire Congress,” it notes.
“Raja is a huge player across the country,” a political consultant was quoted as saying. “In 2022, Krishnamoorthi donated $460,000 to Democratic candidates and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, but he is said to be stockpiling his campaign cash to run for the Senate in 2026 if Dick Durbin retires.”
Krishnamoorthi who represents the northwest suburbs, has also “used his former perch as chairman of a House Oversight subcommittee to investigate everything from the Washington Commanders to the baby formula shortage,” it said.
Born in New Delhi to parents from Tamil Nadu and raised in Illinois, Krishnamoorthi is one of five record Indian Americans elected to the 438-member House in 2022.
READ: Raja Krishnamoorthi gets Distinguished Leadership Award (May 31, 2022)
There is no Indian American in the Senate at present. However, as Vice President, Kamala Harris presides over the US Senate. She will again be President Joe Biden’s running mate in the 2024 elections.
Last year, Krishnamoorthi was presented with the Dalip Singh Saund Award for political leadership in recognition of his “exemplary commitment to advancing the interests of Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities in Congress.”