Who is Ashwin Ramaswami? First Indian-Origin Gen Z Running For Georgia State Senate

Washington – 24-year-old Ashwin Ramaswami became the first Indian-American from Generation Z to run for a state or federal legislature in the United States. According to his campaign page, Ramaswami was born in Johns Creek in Georgia and his parents immigrated to the US from Tamil Nadu in 1990. The Generation Z candidate announced that he will be running for the the Georgia State Senate with a pledge that he wants to ensure equal opportunity for all. 

“I'm running for (Georgia) State Senate in order to give back to my community. I want to make sure that everyone has the same opportunities that I had growing up," Ramaswami, 24, told PTI in a recent interview. "I want to make sure we have a new voice, people who are young, who come from unconventional backgrounds in politics because it's really important that we have people who represent us, not just people who can afford to do it,” he added. Ramaswami who is a Democrat is eying to dethrone incumbent Republican Shawn Still, who was indicted with former President Donald Trump for the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. If he gets elected, the Indian-origin candidate will become the first Gen Z State Senator in Georgia and the only Georgia state legislator with both a computer science and a law degree. He would also become the first Indian-American to be part of the Georgia State legislature. 

 Who is Ashwin Ramaswami?

Ramaswami was born and grew up in John Creek in Giorgia. “I'm a second-generation immigrant, an Indian American, a twin brother, and an engineer. I've built a career in software engineering, election security, and technology law and policy research. Ramaswami has over seven years of experience in building tech startups and has worked with the federal government for three years and worked on ensuring cybersecurity. He pursued his education from Georgia Tech, Stanford University, and Georgetown University Law Center. According to his campaign website, from 2020 to 2023, Ashwin established and managed a cybersecurity program for state and local election officials while working at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). He supported the election security efforts both in the 2020 and 2022 elections.

Ashwin was also a fellow at Georgia Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division and helped to keep ”Georgians safe online and on social media". When asked why he is taking part in the race, Ramawami insisted that he wants to bring change to the community.  “We very much see the news, we see all these things happening, and we want to ensure a good future for ourselves. But I think one problem we face is we don't have the resources or ability to actually go and make a difference in the sense that it's really hard for people my age to get elected because the election process skews towards people who are wealthier and older," the GenZ candidate averred. "So that's one big problem. I hope to show by being successful at this age that we can have that kind of a voice and we can work for everyone regardless of background,” he asserted.