Social Entrepreneur Reema Rasool Among Candidates Running to Succeed New York Congressman Tom Suozzi

Small business owner Reema Rasool, is among candidates running to succeed Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), representing the 3rd District. Suozzi announced late last year that he is running for New York governor. In the June 28 Democratic primary, the Oyster Bay resident will face three other Democrats, including Joshua Lafazan, Jon Kaiman, and Melanie D’Arrigo. New York’s 3rd Congressional District encompasses Nassau County’s North Shore, parts of northeastern Queens, and parts of northwestern Suffolk County.

On her website and her social media handles, the 43-year-old Indian American describes herself as “a lifelong New Yorker, a social entrepreneur, an organizer and a mom of two young children,” who is “fed up with the divisiveness and empty promises from career politicians in Washington.” She promises to be “a fighter for middle-class families of Long Island and Queens.”

I'm Reema Rasool. I'm a single mom of two, a women's rights activist, & small biz owner. I’m running to represent and fight for #NY3 families the same way I fight for mine.

Learn more about our campaign: https://t.co/V7uPV2yjA7

— Reema Rasool for Congress (@reemarasool) January 15, 2022

If elected to Congress, Rasool said that she will focus on issues like helping small businesses build back from the COVID-19 pandemic and “making the transition to renewable energy while creating green new jobs, and fight to pass Medicare For All.” 

On her website, she lists the reasons she chose to run for the House. “Because in this country, the richest country in the world, families should not live in fear of their child or spouse getting sick or breaking a bone because the medical costs could cause them to go bankrupt,” she notes. She says she is “sick and tired of the reality show-styled political rhetoric that has now become normalized. I believe our representatives should focus more on health, economic, and environmental justice for our communities, rather than on themselves.” 

Noting that the “middle class is suffering,” she notes how “our high tax rates hinder growth, and while huge corporations get away with billion-dollar tax breaks, our middle-class small business owners must decide between shutting down or firing staff, just to keep their heads above water.” 

As “someone who has lived in both New York City and on Long Island,” she says she has “witnessed how climate change and superstorms affect every aspect of our communities. As a business owner, I understand the need to invest in clean energy and training for renewable jobs.”

Rasool, who is not a career politician, highlights the need to get “some real people” in Washington,” who can deliver real results for our Long Island and Queens neighborhoods and families.” 

She is the founder of South Asian Young Women Entrepreneurs (SAYWE), a not-for-profit trade organization for the business minded South Asian women. She ran an unsuccessful bid for Oyster Bay council last year, securing 18,000 votes. According to Pakistan Week, Rasool is the daughter of immigrants from Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s. She has a BA and MA in creative writing from NYU.