APAICS | Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies

Raj’s reputation as an effective, bipartisan leader is well earned

In his first term, Raj wrote the law cracking down on Fred Phelps’ outrageous efforts to dishonor our fallen military heroes by picketing their funerals.

He has been a champion for protecting jobs and strengthening local business, leading the effort to help save jobs, fund job training and provide assistance to thousands of laid-off workers in his community. Raj also led the fight to protect seniors from identity theft and tightened the law to get sexual predators off our streets. Raj has earned praise – from both sides of the aisle – for being a champion for Wichita and south central Kansas.

Protecting Taxpayers

Raj has never wavered in his fight to bring efficiency and accountability to Kansas government. He is a proven fiscal conservative who voted to cut government spending and lower taxes on middle class families and small businesses every year he has been in office. Other candidates talk about cutting taxes, but Raj has done it. In just four years, he has voted to cut $500 million in wasteful government spending and voted more than 50 times to relieve Kansans of a total of $900 million in taxes.

Raj has always rejected politics as usual and has refused to use his office for personal gain. Raj takes his job seriously, never missing a single vote in his career. In his four years in Topeka, when politicians spent nearly $3,500,000 on legislative “hospitality” and travel, Raj never accepted a free personal meal or gift from a lobbyist or a taxpayer-funded trip. Raj voluntarily cut his own legislative salary to help solve the state’s budget crisis and set an example of strict fiscal discipline - a quality he has promised to take to Congress.

Growing up in Wichita

Raj grew up in Wichita where he learned the American Dream is available to anyone willing to work hard and play by the rules; he calls these values "Kansas values." Raj's parents taught him Kansas values as they raised him in Wichita, where they run a small medical clinic. His parents have run that small business by these values for more than 30 years now (where his mom has delivered more than 5,000 Kansans!). Their clinic provides good jobs and top-quality care for Wichitans.

Raj has always been active in serving his community. When he was 15, he helped organize a community-wide recycling program and led a cleanup of the Arkansas River in downtown Wichita. He was active in the Cub Scouts and also worked at the Wichita Eagle where he helped produce the "Back to School" issue. While working the internship at The Eagle, he wrote a column on each high school in the city.

After law school, Raj clerked for a federal judge and then worked as an advocate for better schools, improved voting rights for the disabled and as an expert on homeland security issues. Raj has taught American politics for three years in the Honors Program at Wichita State University and received enthusiastic reviews as a teacher and mentor. Raj currently serves on the Board of Inter-Faith Ministries and The Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence. Raj and his wife, Monica, live in Wichita with their newborn daughter, Ana.

[Official Bio from Campaign Website]