Ashwin Ramaswami becomes first Gen Z Indian-American running for Georgia Senate seat

Ashwin Ramaswami, a Gen Z Indian-American, runs for Georgia State Senate, aiming to represent young voices in politics.

Ashwin Ramaswami has become the first Indian-American from Gen Z to run for a State or federal legislature in the U.S., indicative of a new breed of young politicians emerging from the community.

Mr. Ramaswami's parents immigrated to the U.S. from Tamil Nadu in 1990. Generation Z (also known as Zoomers) encompasses those born between 1997 and 2012.

“I'm running for (Georgia) State Senate to give back to my community. I want to make sure that everyone has the same opportunities I had growing up," Mr. 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 said.

A second-generation Indian-American who has built a career in software engineering, election security, and technology law and policy research, is running in the Democratic party for State Senate in District 48 of Georgia.

Mr. Ramaswami is a Democrat and he is hoping to replace incumbent Republican Shawn Still, who was indicted with former President Donald Trump for the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

If elected, he would be the first Gen Z State Senator in Georgia and the only Georgia State legislator with both a computer science and a law degree. By doing so, he would also break barriers as the first Indian American in the Georgia State legislature.