Rishi Kumar: From Mumbai to a run for CA-16
For Rishi Kumar, a Democratic candidate for the California’s 16th Congressional District, his American Dream is on a roll. Kumar’s journey took him from Mumbai to a high-level business executive job in the Bay Area, and now to running for office. A former member of the Saratoga City Council, Kumar lost his previous two congressional runs, but picked up an impressive 42 percent of the votes last year against longtime incumbent Anna Eshoo, who announced she will not be seeking reelection this year.
I joined Rishi Kumar’s internship program in June of 2023, which not only gave me an inside look into how a congressional campaign is run, but also an opportunity to learn from the passion that he brings to every issue, big or small. In an interview via email, Rishi Kumar shared with India Currents his inspiring immigrant journey.
(The interview has been edited for clarity).
India Currents: What was your early life like?
Rishi Kumar: I grew up in a middle-class suburban apartment in Mumbai with no air conditioning. My dad worked extremely hard in the cryogenics industry, and my mom herded three boys.
We’d climb on the back of my dad’s scooter and he would drive all four of us into the inner streets of Mumbai. Being the youngest, I would get to stand on the floor of the scooter, my dad’s arms around me as he steered the scooter through traffic, the wind rushing by; I felt like a king!
Life wasn’t easy. My dad drove the scooter for hours to purchase quality rice, as the rationed rice that the government provided was filled with little stones. My mom would assign us three boys to pick out anything that was, well, not rice. Every Sunday my Mom assembled the “good rice” into a fabulous family lunch I remember fondly to this day. Those family moments were special – ingrained in my memory.
IC: What influenced you the most from your early childhood?
RK: Taking the bus to school, I would see life in Mumbai: abject poverty at many levels. I worried how life would play out for me. Fight to survive or perish. Bombay turned me into a fighter – a fighter for the poor because I felt they were poor for no fault of their own. I wanted to fight for all the good things, the right values; characters ingrained into me by the potboilers of Bollywood that were conceived in my own city, as evil always lost and the good always won. My mom planted these very seeds, telling me stories, when I was barely three years old, about ancient kings and queens, who had wonderful hearts and did magnanimous things, demonstrating courage and fortitude. Stories akin to that of an underdog David who walked into Goliath’s lair and came out the winner while never having a fighting chance! If you had a good heart, if you cared for people, if you had courage, and if you had compassion, you would always win. I wanted to be like them.
IC: When did you decide to come to America?
RK: I remember the day like it happened yesterday. I walked towards the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai with trepidation. I had just gotten off the bus, passport in hand. It was the rainy season and cloudy skies over me. As I neared the consulate, I saw the American flag fluttering and my heart leaped. There was something magical about it! Today my dreams were either going to hit the stars or be shattered. I could barely think straight as I walked through the door into the air-conditioned comfort and calmness of the consulate, soaking in the special fragrance of the interior. An American student visa was a hit or a miss and I wasn’t sure which side I would be on in a few hours. Graduating from one of the best engineering schools, I was still not sure if I had the merit to qualify for a visa. As I exited the consulate, I knew I was going to America!
IC: What was your first experience of America?
RK: Arriving at graduate school, I discovered a country that I had deep reverence for, and still do today, passionately. I love this country for how it embraced me, claimed me as its own, professors inviting me to Thanksgiving dinners – I found America to be a country that just willingly gave. I was struggling to find my footing, but I loved the kindred spirit. I for sure benefited. Someday, I would give back.
IC: Besides public life, where do you work now?
RK: As a C-level executive in a Silicon Valley software startup, I lead sales, product management, and marketing. We are a leading global provider of information management solutions, serving enterprise clients worldwide, located in four continents. We have software offerings primarily focused on solving the data challenges of organizations.
IC: How have you balanced your career and political goals?
RK: The past decade has been a juggle —from my duties as a city council member to my executive role in the tech industry, not to mention my family commitments and non-profit work as the CEO of Silicon Valley Coders Club, and now my venture into a congressional run. I’m humbled by the challenge and sincerely hope to rise to the occasion with the same dedication I’ve tried to bring to all my endeavors. I’m eager to bring my technical perspective and problem-solving mindset to the halls of Washington.
IC: Do you think there are skills from your career that would serve you well in politics?
RK: I aim to bring to Congress not only an understanding of technology but also the practical, results-oriented approach that’s a hallmark of Silicon Valley. I am convinced that Silicon Valley requires leaders who make decisions rooted in a deep understanding of our region’s innovative spirit, decisions that prioritize the well-being of our citizens and the enduring economic health and prosperity of our community.
IC: How did you get interested in politics?
RK: Working for IBM, I discovered little problems in my community. I would look around to see who would step up. A neighborhood break-in. I looked around. No one! Perhaps me?
I discovered that the long-established frameworks of the Neighborhood Safety Watch program could help. I knocked on doors to see how I could organize and I was told, “I have lived here for 30 years. We don’t need such things.” But something kept me going. Little did I realize that an incredible journey had begun with that first step. I joined the planning commission. I became an activist, jumping into problems of the school district or hurting businesses, of a senior center strapped for funds, or even organizing Lego Robotics and Entrepreneurship boot camps for the students of Silicon Valley. I developed my confidence, which I never knew I had to organize events and activities.
IC: How did your political career start?
RK: Back in 2012, my entrance into the world of politics began when I received an invitation from a state senator to become involved with the California Democratic Party by running for the seat of a delegate. To my surprise, I was elected to the Executive Board position of the California Democratic Party (and delegate) winning against 44 others. It was very empowering – that someone like me could not only win tough races but also apply my unique insights and experiences to make our state and nation stronger. Shortly thereafter, I took the leap and ran for a spot on the city council, a journey that turned out to be personally very rewarding as I got the opportunity to give back to the city where I was raising my family.
IC: What are the 3 top issues in the district and how do you plan to fix them?
RK: I will leverage the extraordinary technical and financial resources of the richest, most innovative congressional district in America to act on the issues unaddressed for decades such as Medicare for All, reproductive rights, climate change, and stopping the senseless deaths of our children at school. I will defend our democracy, protect our seniors from the exploitation and privatization of Medicare, reduce crime, inflation, and the exodus.
I will push for a cleanup of Washington with term limits, ban congressional insider trading, establish a collaborative problem-solving approach, not divisive partisan politics, with a people-centric agenda, not lobbyist-centric.
IC: What would you say are your major accomplishments in politics so far?
RK: I found my calling as an activist, but as a council member, I challenged the system and status quo, unafraid to be the dissenting vote on burning issues that went against the people, and focused my energy on tough community challenges. I led efforts to reject many San Jose Water Company’s rate increases, easing the worries of a million ratepayers. I am the only elected leader from 6 cities who has battled their rate increases for 6 years now.
I worked hard to reduce burglaries: the largest reduction compared to any other Silicon Valley city. As part of the crime-fighting effort, I never toed the establishment politics, but the old guards soon recognized the positive contributions to our city and embraced the success – a 50% drop in burglaries. It became a funded city program. What an amazing outcome!
I stopped a potential 300-room hotel mega development project on a hillside in a high fire-hazard zone because it was the right thing to do, and it’s what the people wanted.
When my colleagues on the city council proposed a road tax, I was the only dissenting vote. I pushed for a budget optimization approach instead to free up money for road repair. Eventually, the city council abandoned the road tax proposal.
I organized protests when I saw CPUC gutting California’s solar program (currently paused by CPUC), and pushed for audits of California Housing Department’s flawed housing quotas (RHNA numbers) – the audit report proved my suspicions.
I demanded four Valley Water Board members to resign when they spent millions of taxpayer dollars on a misleading ballot that falsely claimed to be further restricting board term limits, but in reality, it increased the limit from three terms to four.
When I ran for re-election to the Saratoga City Council, we knocked on the door of every home in our city — something that had never been done before. We won in a landslide and I was re-elected with the most votes in our 66-year city history.
IC: What are your thoughts on SB 403?
RK: SB 403 seems to me to be misguided and utterly unnecessary. It’s these poorly planned and misdirected policies that are contributing to California’s current crisis and accelerating decline. I will never follow the herd down a cliff. The emphasis on caste seems pointless – it’s as if we’re hunting for a problem that doesn’t exist, and this could potentially amplify hate crimes against South Asians. Enforcing this law could paradoxically require South Asians to identify with a caste, an identification that doesn’t currently exist. Existing California laws already safeguard us against any form of discrimination.
