38-year-old Indian-American lawyer Jenifer Rajkumar has become the first South Asian woman to be elected to the New York State Assembly after defeating her Republican opponent Giovanni Perna.
Rajkumar is an immigrant rights activist who studied at Stanford. She is a professor at the City University of New York and is also a former New York state government official.
Her parents immigrated to the US from India and settled in Queens in New York.
She serves on the Legal Advisory Council of Sanctuary for Families, New York City’s leading advocate for survivors of domestic violence, sex trafficking, and related forms of gender violence.
Her website says that she was appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as the Director of Immigration Affairs and Special Counsel for New York state.
Rajkumar will now represent New York City in the New York State Assembly, representing the 38th Assembly district.
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the NY state legislature, with the state Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly and members serve two-year terms without term limits.