Candidate Profile: Karishma Mehta For VA House Of Delegates

ARLINGTON, VA — Democrat Karishma Mehta is running to unseat incumbent Alfonso Lopez and represent the 49th District in the Virginia House of Delegates. The 29-year-old preschool teacher is the daughter of Indian immigrants who came to America looking for a better life.

In the June 8 primary, Arlington voters living in the 49th District will have a chance to decide whether Lopez or Mehta will be the Democratic candidate on the ballot for the Nov. 2 general election. Early voting is already underway.

Patch asked each of the candidates running in the Democratic primary to fill out the following profile:

Candidate's Name

Karishma Mehta

Age (as of Election Day)

29

Position Sought

House of Delegates 49th District

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

Kanan (mom), Karan (24), Radhika (19)

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

George Washington University, Bachelors in Psychology

Occupation

Preschool teacher, 4 years

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

None

Campaign website

https://karishmaforvirginia.co...

Why are you seeking elective office?

My story is the story of so many people who live in the 49th district and across Virginia. My parents came here from India seeking a better life and they struggled with rent, school lunch debt, and lack of healthcare all without the protection of a union. After I graduated from college, I inherited these struggles. I worked long hours at jobs that paid starvation wages to help pay down student debt that I still have as a renter on Columbia Pike. When I became a teacher, I skipped meals and avoided the doctor to fund my own classroom while watching my students face those same obstacles. That’s the reason I decided to run, to break that cycle of inequity for my students, to and to fight for policies like a Green New Deal, healthcare for all, universal pre-k. I'm running to fully represent the 49th district, and invest in organizing year-round in the community. Growing up, I never felt represented in politics. I'm a South Asian, working class woman, and teacher. People like me aren’t represented in our politics, and I think it’s time we change that.

The single most pressing issue facing our district is healthcare, and this is what I intend to do about it.

I am running to guarantee healthcare as a human right through a single-payer system that isn't tied to employment and is free at the point of service for all Virginians. The pandemic has exposed the deep-rooted inequities of our inhumane for-profit healthcare system. In the only major country on Earth without universal healthcare, we need elected officials rejecting campaign contributions from health insurance companies that are denying working people the healthcare they and their families desperately need to survive the COVID-19 pandemic and afterwards.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

My experience is not typical in politics, and I'm proud of my working class background. I’m the daughter of Indian immigrants who came to America looking for a better life. As a teacher, the inequities I saw in the classroom caused me to consider who was representing me. While I have been on the frontlines of combatting the humanitarian crisis at our border and fighting for migrant families, Delegate Lopez lobbied for ICE detention facilities like ICA-Farmville, and profited $15,000 from them as a sitting elected official. While I was fighting Medicare for All, he refused to fight for single-payer healthcare at a state or national level and accepted thousands of dollars from the private health insurance companies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While I have organized and fought for tenant unions, my neighbors and the people I talk to at the doors tell me that they’ve never met or even heard of their representative. It’s because my opponent refuses to stand up for working people who live here, while prioritizing luxury developers who are displacing us. He accepted thousands from real estate PACs and developers that give to Republicans, while so many families (including my own) were displaced in the pandemic. On Delegate Lopez’s website, he doesn’t mention a Green New Deal, campaign finance reform, or the importance of repealing right to work.

At a time when we need to fight for transformative justice, my campaign represents the future of our Commonwealth. We need a leader who will fight for universal programs that cover all our people, and I’m the only candidate in this race supporting universal policies. I’m not a politician or a lobbyist; I’m a working class preschool teacher and my movement is what powers my campaign, not corporate donors. Our elected officials are often lobbyists and lawyers or those well-connected to the powerful few. I think it's time our district had a Delegate connected to the people. I’m working to build a Virginia that works for all, not one that works for billionaires and corporations.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

I decided to run for office because I haven't see any politician in my community fighting for working people, Black and Brown communities, renters, and those struggling to earn living wages. The solutions I am fighting for (and the people I'm fighting for) are fundamentally different: I want to divest corporate subsidies into small businesses/worker co-operatives, increase the minimum wage to a living wage, ban evictions, and guarantee workers the right to unionize their workplace.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I've been part of public service my entire life. I was a high school mentor, worked with Wounded Veterans and JROTC kids, and was an after-school counselor before becoming a preschool teacher. I work year round in the classroom, and my commitment is to work year-round as Delegate in the 49th District. I've been a community organizer, working to shut down abusive immigration detention centers and fighting on the frontlines with tenants unions to protect renters in Virginia. I’m also proud to be organizing with and to have the endorsements of progressive organizations across Virginia including Sunrise Movement, National DSA, Progressive Democrats of America, Food and Water Action, and the National Women’s Political Caucus. We’re fighting alongside Arab and Muslim orgs, South Asian allies, women’s groups and environmental organizations who know how critical this election is to progress. As Delegate, I will use every tool in my toolbox as an educator and organizer to uplift working families in VA-49. These partners are standing with me as we get closer to Election Day because they know when I go to Richmond, I’m bringing our movement with me to fight for all of us.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

You don't beg for your human rights. You organize and take them.

Related:

Candidate Profile: Alfonso Lopez For VA House Of Delegate

Early Voting For Democratic Primary Starts In Arlington