Washington state Democratic Party’s Indian American chair Shasti Conrad has been elected vice chair of Democratic National Committee (DNC), giving her a voice in crafting the party’s strategy for responding to the Trump administration.
She beat Kalyn Free, a national committee member from Oklahoma, in a run-off after neither garnered a majority in a first round of balloting earlier last week.
Conrad, 40, the first South Asian woman to lead a state party, and is in her second term as leader of Washington’s Democratic Party, said she is “deeply grateful” for the result, which came after six days of voting.
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“This was the longest election in DNC history, and every vote cast reflected our shared belief in building a stronger, more inclusive Democratic Party,” she said.
The party is looking to bounce back after a disastrous 2024 cycle. Conrad has argued that Democrats don’t need to drastically change their message or positions and instead must improve how they communicate with voters.
She has also argued that the platform that has brought Democrats success in Washington, where the party controls all statewide elected offices and the Legislature, can be replicated to rack up victories elsewhere.
“We are not just strategizing to win elections. We are working to transform lives,” Conrad said before results came out.
She had the backing of DNC Chair Ken Martin, who appointed her in March to be an associate chair for the national party. In this role, she said she’s strived to spotlight issues of importance to Asian Americans and to work with influencers on ways to better engage younger voters.
“As a millennial, I’m committed to creating more opportunities for young people to get involved and become the leaders of today — not just tomorrow,” she said. She added that she’d ensure Asian American and Pacific Islanders “have a seat at every table where decisions are made.”
Conrad is also the first woman of color and youngest chair of the Washington State Democrats. Previously, Conrad was the Chair of the King County Democrats from 2018-2022, making her the first woman of color chair in the organization’s history.
Prior to that, Conrad was the State Committeewoman for the 37th Legislative District in Washington State, 1st Vice Chair of the King County Democrats, and Elections Committee Co-Chair for the Washington State Democrats.
Conrad who launched her own consulting firm in 2016 was named to the American Association of Political Consultants’ 40 under 40 list and Seattle Met’s 100 Most Influential List (top 10 in politicos category).
Conrad served President Barack Obama as a senior staff assistant in the White House, and a briefings manager on the 2012 campaign, leading the preparation of daily briefing materials on all campaign events, meetings, calls and political background for the President, First Lady and Vice President.
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Since leaving the White House, Shasti has served as a Senior Graduate Fellow at the Malala Fund, providing programmatic support within the organization and staffing Malala Yousafzai and her family at the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony.
Between 2017 and 2020, Conrad was the U.S. Campaign Manager and Regional Planning Advisor for the 100 Million Campaign, launched by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Kailash Satyarthi, which aims to be the largest youth mobilization in history to end child labor and trafficking.
Conrad received her B.A. in Sociology and International Studies with Honors from Seattle University, and her Master’s in Public Affairs and International Development at Princeton University in 2015.