US Senator Cory Booker hires several Indian-Americans for his 2020 presidential bid

US Senator Cory Booker has hired over a dozen Asian American Pacific Islanders, mostly Indian-Americans, for his 2020 presidential campaign which is said to be largest among Democratic aspirants.

first African-American Senator from New Jersey, Booker, 50, anunced his 2020 presidential bid on February 1.

Currently re are nearly two dozen Democratic presidential aspirants, who will be pitted against each or in party's primary elections beginning early next year.

Prominent among m include former Vice President Joe Biden, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard; Senators Kamala Harris, Michael Bennet, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

From his national press secretary Sabrina Singh, State operations director New Hampshire Shwetika Baijal to Iowa political director Rishi Bharwani; Booker has hired more than half a dozen Indian-Americans for his presidential campaign.

"I'm proud to be building a campaign that reflects rich diversity of our country. Being inclusive of voices of members of Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community have always been and will always be a top priority for me and my campaign," Booker, who represents New Jersey in Senate, told PTI.

"From who we hire to how we eng with one ar, we always seek to empower and uplift diverse voices and ensure everyone has a seat at table. I'm extremely proud of members of AAPI community that make up this team," said Booker, who is a friend of India and Indian-Americans.

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Among or AAPI members in his campaign team are Deepak Jonnaldda, Iowa Field Organiser; Sobaika Mirza, Director of Human Resources; Jen Kim, States Chief of Staff; Philip Kim, Neva State Director; Yash Mori, Videographer and Meena Yi, Director of Design.

" makeup of Cory 2020 campaign staff reflects diversity of this country, and I'm really proud to be a part of it," campaign spokesperson Sabrina told PTI.

"It's an hor to work for someone who t only believes in inclusive policies for country, but who hires and empowers a diverse group of people in his staff," she said.

Before joining Cory 2020, Sabrina worked at Democratic National Committee as deputy communications director. She is a first generation Indian-American.

Baijal previously was a vice president at 50+1 Strategies; while Bharwani was campaign manr for Amber Gustafson in Iowa.

Prior to Cory 2020, Jonnaldda was a field organiser for Iowa Democratic Party and Mirza most recently served as Senior Operations Officer at Avaaz.

Mori previously was a digital staffer for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

re are presently more than 20 million people of AAPI descent residing in United States, which amounts to more than 6 per cent of population. AAPI population is most rapidly growing ethnic group in country and is expected to increase to over 40 million individuals by 2060. 

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