Indian American Republican and Navy Veteran, a Candidate for Texas’ 26th Congressional District, Promises‘ Radical Change’
- Burt Thakur, who is among a crowded field of candidates running for Rep. Michael Burgess’ seat, describes himself ad a “disrupter” and an America First Republican.
Burt Thakur, a Republican, is among a crowded field of candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives seat from Texas’ 26th Congressional District after Rep. Michael Burgess announced that he would not seek reelection. Burgess, a longtime obstetrician, has represented District 26 in the U.S. House since 2003. The district covers a large portion of Denton County, including the southwestern part of Denton, Lewisville, Corinth, Highland Village, and Little Elm. It also includes all of Cooke County and portions of Wise and Tarrant counties.
A Navy veteran, an engineer, and a Jeopardy! champion, Thakur pitches himself as a “disrupter” and an America First Republican. He had filed for a neighboring Texas congressional seat last spring but switched to run for U.S. House District 26 three days after Burgess’ announcement, The Dallas Morning News reported.
On his website, Thakur says his mission as a Republican is “to ensure we are one nation under God, not one nation under government.” As a worker, his “mission is one of service,” and as “a disruptor,” the ideas he is proposing are “common sense, but radical to political status quo.” He claims to be someone who can truly fight against the Marxist ideology of the extreme Left to ensure it does not take root in the most impressionable minds — those of our children.” He promises to “vote against raising taxes, oppose foreign wars, fight for education, not indoctrination.”
In 2020, during the week of the presidential election, he appeared on tJeopardy!, during Alex Trebek’s final season as a host. He became a Jeopardy! champion, but received the most attention for sharing his personal story of how the show changed his life. The story — a tribute to both his grandfather and the late Alex Trebek, would go on to be shared and seen by millions of people on television, social media, and various other media outlets inspiring and reminding millions of Americans of the importance and impact of empathy, family, and the American Dream.
Born in New Delhi, he was raised by his maternal grandparents. He moved to New York in the late 1980s and later attended Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania. After graduating, he enlisted in the United States Navy and gave up his Indian citizenship. He served as a nuclear reactor operator on the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and was honorably discharged in 2006, after serving for 6 years.
After the service, he moved to California and worked for MMR Power Solutions, where he built, operated, and managed Co-gen power plants. He subsequently worked in critical power and is currently an engineering project manager facilitating construction processes for large data centers.