Tamil Nadu-born Rini Sampath in race to become Washington DC Mayor

Tamil Nadu-born Rini Sampath aims to become Washington DC's first South Asian mayor with a campaign focused on improving city services.

Tamil Nadu-born Rini Sampath has become the first South Asian candidate to be on the ballot for the primary for the election for the mayor of Washington DC.

The 31-year-old government contractor from the Democratic Party has based her election campaign on the theme ‘Fix the Basics’ and the promise of “A new DC”.

“I’m not a politician. I don’t owe any special interest groups. It’s time for an outsider who is relentlessly focused on fixing our basic city services,” Ms. Samapth says on her campaign website.

Born in Theni in Tamil Nadu, she came to the U.S. as a seven-year-old and has been a resident of Washington DC for more than a decade.

“It’s clear we have a real path to victory. In just four weeks, we made the mayoral ballot as the first South Asian candidate in DC history to do it. That’s what a lean, people-powered campaign can accomplish. Imagine what we could do with the resources to reach every voter across the city,” she said.

Washington DC is dominated overwhelmingly by Democrats and the city never has had a Republican mayor since the elections to the post began in 1975. Before that, the city was administered by a Board of Commissioners appointed by the U.S. president.