Rajkumar poised to become first South Asian woman elected to state office
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Attorney Jenifer Rajkumar won the Democratic primary in Assembly District 38. If she wins the general election in November, she will become the first South Asian woman elected to state office in New York. Photo via the campaign
By David Brand
After securing the Democratic nomination in Queens’ Assembly District 38, attorney Jenifer Rajkumar is poised to become the first woman of South Asian descent elected to state office in New York.
Rajkumar captured 52 percent of the vote to defeat incumbent Assemblymember Michael Miller and another challenger, Joey de Jesus, according to unofficial results. The victory in the heavily Democratic district all but assures her a win in the November general election and a seat in Albany in 2021.
Rajkumar, the daughter of Indian immigrants, told the Eagle she was “humbled and honored” to make history in New York.
“Like many Indian, Bengali and West Indian families, my family immigrated to the United States with just $300 and a suitcase,” she said. “Our story shows that with hard work, persistence and high aspirations there is nothing you cannot achieve in the United States of America. Now we will bring those same values to caring for all New Yorkers, and improving education, health care and quality of life for all.”
District 38 stretches from the southeast corner of Ridgewood to northern Ozone Park and Western Richmond Hill. The district, which covers much of Glendale and Woodhaven, includes large South Asian and Latino communities, as well as low-density, mostly white sections. Rajkumar performed well across the district’s diverse groups, according to election results.
Rajkumar lost a previous bid for a Manhattan Assembly seat four years ago before moving to Woodhaven. She has worked at the public interest law firm Sanford Heisler Sharp LLP, lectured at CUNY schools and served as the state’s director of immigration affairs.
Her primary victory was a repudiation of Miller’s moderate, and at times conservative, politics. He faced consistent criticism for his votes against same-sex marriage in 2009 and 2011 and against an equal pay measure during his time in Albany.
Nevertheless, Rajkumar’s ideology is less radical than other progressive and socialist candidates who challenged and defeated incumbent lawmakers this year, often with the support of the Working Families Party or the Democratic Socialists of America.
She has spoken at a rally to oppose a Glendale homeless shelter alongside anti-shelter zealot Robert Holden, a city councilmember whose district overlaps Assembly District 38. Unlike other challengers who won their primary contests, Rajkumar also avoids a strict tenant-focused perspective when discussing a pending eviction crisis — another consequence of COVID-19.
Rajkumar said she favors measures to cancel rent for tenants impacted by COVID-19, so long as state intervention supports landlords, too.
“With nearly half of Americans out of a job, now is the time for robust financial resources for struggling tenants and homeowners or so they can get by until the COVID crisis stabilizes,” she said. “I support canceling the rent. I do support it, assuming that it’s sustainable.”
To make the relief sustainable, the state must also enact measures to help small landlords pay their mortgages and property taxes, she said.
“Provisions should also be in place requiring landlords to work with their tenants creating flexible arrangements for rent payment, and provisions providing tax relief for small landlords,” she said
After 1,082 absentee ballots were invalidated in the Assembly District 38 primary, Rajkumar said she plans to prioritize voter access during her first term in Albany
“If people vote by absentee ballot and their ballot is invalidated they should have the opportunity to correct those errors,” she said.
She said she would work to increase funding to schools and to make college affordable for all New Yorkers. Rajkumar, a lawyer, said she also wants to ensure “access to justice” by guaranteeing the right to an attorney in housing court and immigration court.
Miller, backed by the Queens County Democratic Party, was first elected in a 2009 special election to replace ex-lawmaker Anthony Seminerio, who was convicted of fraud and bribery and later sentenced to prison.
De Jesus, a poet and CUNY professor ran a socialist campaign centered on universal healthcare, education funding and relief for tenants during the COVID-19 crisis.
Each received about a quarter of the vote.
Queens will likely have two South Asian state lawmakers in the next legislative session.
Assembly candidate Zohran Mamdani won his Democratic primary in Astoria’s Assembly District 36. Mamdani, whos is of Indian and Ugandan descent, defeated incumbent Aravella Simotas.
