Indian American Attorney Rakhi Israni Launches Congressional Bid in California’s 14th District Race

Attorney, educator, and longtime Fremont resident Rakhi Israni announced her candidacy Tuesday for California’s 14th Congressional District, entering what has become a wide-open Democratic primary race following incumbent Eric Swalwell’s decision to run for governor. Israni’s campaign marks a significant moment for Indian American political representation—if elected, she would become the first Indian American woman to serve in Congress from California and only the second Indian American woman ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Israni announced a campaign video released on social media, highlighting her background as an educator, attorney, and mother of four, and framing her candidacy around what she described as a moment of responsibility in public life.

“This moment calls on each of us to serve a purpose greater than ourselves and to stand firmly on the side of truth,” Israni said in the video. “It is the same set of values my husband and I are passing down to our four children, and it is with these values I announce my campaign for Congress.”

Educational and Legal Credentials

Israni brings extensive educational credentials to the race. Rakhi holds an MBA from Rice Business, a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center, and a BBA in marketing and international Business from the University of Texas at Austin. She earned an LL.M. with high honors from Columbia Law School in 2023.

Her professional background combines education, law, and entrepreneurship. According to her campaign materials, Israni has lived in Fremont for more than two decades, where she has raised her family and built her professional career. She cited her experience founding and leading a national test-preparation company, which she said drew on her background as an educator and enabled her to mentor thousands of students.

According to Rice Business, Rakhi currently serves on the boards of Vivekananda Yoga University, the Silicon Valley Interfaith Council, and AUM School, and is a former director of the State Bar of Texas and the Tri-City Interfaith Council.

California’s 14th Congressional District covers parts of the eastern Bay Area and includes diverse suburban communities with a significant population of professionals, immigrants, and families.

The District and the Race

California’s 14th Congressional District underwent significant changes following the passage of Proposition 50 in November 2025, which allowed California to redraw congressional boundaries. According to Ballotpedia, heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is D+20. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district’s results were 20 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California’s 14th the 59th most Democratic district nationally.

California’s 14th Congressional District covers parts of the eastern Bay Area and includes diverse suburban communities with a significant population of professionals, immigrants, and families. The race became competitive after longtime incumbent Eric Swalwell announced his candidacy for California governor. Swalwell has represented the district since 2013 and won re-election in 2024 with 67.8 percent of the vote. His departure from the race has opened up the seat for the first time in more than a decade.

According to Ballotpedia, Melissa Hernandez (D), Matt Ortega (D), Abrar Qadir (D), and Wendy Huang (R) are running in the general election for U.S. House California District 14 on November 3, 2026. Israni’s Tuesday announcement makes her the latest addition to this field. State Senator Aisha Wahab from the 10th district, who previously ran for this seat in 2020, is also listed as a declared candidate according to Wikipedia.

The 14th District’s diverse demographics may work in Israni’s favor. With significant populations of Asian Americans, South Asians, and immigrants, her background as the daughter of immigrants, her fluency in multiple cultural contexts through her interfaith work, and her decades of community engagement position her as a candidate who can speak to the district’s multicultural makeup.

Challenges Ahead

Israni, however, faces significant challenges in a crowded Democratic primary. She enters the race as a political newcomer with no electoral experience, competing against candidates with established political profiles. Melissa Hernandez brings name recognition from her leadership of the BART board and her tenure as Dublin mayor. Matt Ortega has national campaign experience from working on Clinton’s presidential campaign. Aisha Wahab is a sitting state senator with an established political network.

California’s top-two primary system, where the two candidates receiving the most votes regardless of party advance to the general election, means Israni will need to break through a competitive field to make it to November. With the primary scheduled for June 2, 2026, according to Wikipedia, she has less than five months to build name recognition, raise funds, and mobilize voters across the district.

This story was aggregated by AI from several news reports and edited by American Kahani’s News Desk.