With his Republican opponent ruled ineligible to contest, Pennsylvania State Representative Arvind Venkat will campaign as a write-in candidate in the Republican primary too in a bid to unite the community across party lines.
Venkat, the first Indian American elected to the Pennsylvania House in 2022, announced his decision on X to “actively campaign to be written in on the Republican ballot,” on May 19 while also accepting the Democratic nomination for his seat that day.
The move follows the disqualification of his filed Republican opponent Ehab Akkary on March 23 by a Commonwealth Court
for failing to meet the state’s four year residency requirement prior to an election.
In the absence of a Republican candidate, Venkat said he had been considering how to unify the community and address ongoing challenges. “With no filed Republican candidate and in this critical moment, I will seek the support of Republicans to unite our community and focus our energy on moving us forward together.” he wrote.
Read: Indian American pastor Mathew Philip launches bid for Georgia House seat
He acknowledged the challenge of appealing to voters across political divides. “This will not be easy,” Venkat stated. “Our tribal politics mean that seeking common ground is difficult.” At the same time, he emphasized that his core positions remain unchanged. “I am not in any way diluting the values I hold dear and for which I have campaigned,” he said.
“We are at a critical juncture for our community, Pennsylvania, and our nation” Venkat wrote. ‘We face a war with no clear end, resulting in rising costs for everyone.”
“Over 120,000 Pennsylvanians and millions more nationwide have lost their health insurance,” he wrote. “The rapid deployment of artificial intelligence presents an uncertain future for our economy and society.”
He had “called on Congress to exercise its constitutional responsibilities regarding war and peace,” Venkat wrote vowing
to “continue to fight for our community, Commonwealth, and nation.’
Venkat also outlined policy areas he has supported or proposed, including expanding health insurance coverage, regulating artificial intelligence in healthcare, integrating additional energy sources into the power grid, and funding schools and first responders.
Other priorities include tax cuts for seniors, families, small businesses, and low-income residents, as well as measures to protect homeowners and require data center developers to bear construction and operational costs while complying with local zoning standards.
Venkat was born in Madurai and migrated to the United States as a child. He is an alumni of Harvard and Yale universities and had a long career in emergency medicine as a physician, before joining politics.