Ashwin Ramaswami has spent the past three years working for the federal government to protect elections from hackers. Now he’s taking aim at what he says is a bigger threat to democracy: a state senator.
Ramaswamy, a 24-year-old Democrat, is challenging Sen. Shawn Still of Georgia, a Republican who was indicted last year along with former President Donald Trump on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election. That same year, Ramaswamy began an internship at the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), where he worked to build software that helped local election officials protect their websites from malicious attacks.
Ramaswamy, then a student at Stanford University but relocated home to Johns Creek, Georgia due to the pandemic, continued to work as a paid, part-time employee at CISA while pursuing his undergraduate studies and later attending law school. After Still was indicted at Georgetown University in Washington, Ramaswami said he decided to drop out and run for office.
“I understand that cyber security is really important and we need to continue to do so, but the biggest threat to our election security is not just hackers breaking into our systems. Politicians claim that the election was rigged when it was rigged,” Ramaswamy said in an interview.
Two years before he was elected to the State Senate, Still signed a certificate Despite Trump losing the state in the 2020 election, he claims on behalf of then-President Trump that Georgia is a “duly elected and qualified” presidential elector. Who again It is reported that he is acting as secretary Last year, a case was filed against 7 charges, including racketeering, for meeting fake voters. He pleaded not guilty.
Democrats hope the suburban Atlanta district is competitive in part because of its fast-growing Asian community, though it’s still up for 13 points in 2022.
Ramaswamy, who will be the legally required 25 years of age by the general elections in November, If elected, he said he believes he will become the youngest Indian American lawmaker in the United States and the youngest senator in the Georgia legislature next year. He lives with his parents in Johns Creek and is still finishing law school while running his campaign. He plans to postpone the bar for a year after the race is over.
“This is what Chuck Schumer did,” Ramaswamy wrote in the text, referring to the 26-year-old US Senate majority leader and New York Times. article as evidence.
Ramaswamy’s campaign has raised $185,000 so far, including $50,000 from his own pocket. He touts his youth and computer science background as assets that will make him a unique member of the Legislature.
Her age also helped her win the endorsement of Leaders We Deserve, a PAC supporting young progressive candidates co-founded by Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg and Kevin Lata, the campaign manager of Rep. Maxwell Frost, the first Generation Z member of Congress. , D-Fla.
“We thought he was a great candidate with an amazing story,” Hogg told NBC News.
As the only Democratic candidate on the primary ballot, Ramaswamy is now focused on the general election. He turned it on digital video on Wednesday presented himself as a Gen Z engineer and accused Still of trying to steal Georgian votes.
“We have a lot of work to do to distract these election deniers and partisan extremists who are blocking all the progress we can make,” he said in the video.
In an email, Still disagreed with the overreach and highlighted his efforts to lower taxes and enact school choice in his first term.
“Every bill I’ve sponsored or co-authored has had bipartisan support. I do not have a divisive platform and I have served the people of north Fulton, south Forsyth and NW Gwinnett by promoting a pro-business, pro-family, pro-education platform that earned me recognition as Georgia House Legislator of the Year. “, he still wrote.
He continued: “My message to voters is this: Experience matters. I’ve signed paychecks front and back, know what it’s like to grow a business, be a parent, be a leader in my community and industry, and tirelessly give back to my community. [for] 25 years.”
Ramaswami said he believes his district can better represent the growing Asian population. She is a second-generation immigrant who grew up in a South Indian Tamil family and spent time in her town’s Indian community centers, temples and Hindu Sunday schools.
He has yet to respond to questions about how his policies serve the Asian community in his district, the largest ethnic group there after white people. Between 2010 and 2022, the Asian population in the 48th Senate District increased from 16% to 28%.
“I was born and brought up here and I know how the policies of the last few years and decades have not served people like me,” Ramaswami said. “Shawn Still shows many Indian American events. On his website, there is a large picture of him with a bunch of Indian aunts and uncles: “Hey, I support the Indian community.” … But from the point of view of actual politics, it does not serve our priorities at all.”