India Post News Service
California entrepreneur Shrina Kurani launched her campaign against 15-term Republican Ken Calvert last week. Kurani, a mechanical engineer, is set to work to increase job opportunities in the Inland Empire and beyond by facilitating the funding of startup businesses. Her campaign posted an announcement video HERE.
“Growing up in the Inland Empire, I saw the lack of quality career opportunities in our community,” Kurani said. “As a first-generation American, my family worked together to build a successful pool supply business right here in Riverside. My parents didn’t take a single day off for ten years, but even that level of hustle is often not enough these days. Opportunities are out of reach for far too many people while career Washington politicians like Ken Calvert are focused on helping themselves, their political parties, and their corporate donors.
“I’m an engineer, entrepreneur, and fact-based problem solver, not a politician,” continued Kurani. “I’ve spent my career building businesses that reduce waste and create quality jobs. I’m running for Congress to make things work better in Washington and build an Inland Empire where people feel safe, healthy, and have opportunities to succeed in fulfilling jobs. Ken Calvert has been in Washington for nearly 30 years, and he’s voted against our interest time and time again. It’s time for a new approach.
Born and raised in Riverside, Kurani graduated from La Sierra High School at 16 years old and earned her degree in mechanical engineering from UC Riverside. Kurani has worked to start companies aimed at reducing waste and creating sustainable solutions for food and water, and she has served as an advisor to startup businesses that are developing ways to make healthcare and education more affordable, accessible, equitable, and effective. Most recently, Kurani has been building a company to increase opportunities by focusing on addressing disparities in the funding of startup businesses founded by women and people of color, an effort that has facilitated $2 million in capital to the Inland Empire and over $300 million across the nation. Kurani’s full biography is available at www.ShrinaKurani.com/about.
Congressman Ken Calvert (R) currently holds California’s 42nd Congressional District and was first elected in 1992. He has been called one of the most corrupt members of Congress in Washington by a nonpartisan watchdog group. Calvert has taken over $5.4 million from corporate PACs during his career, voted along partisan lines by supporting former President Donald Trump 97% of the time, and recently opposed economic relief for families in the Inland Empire, voted against a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6th insurrection, and said no to millions of dollars for law enforcement.
California’s 42nd District was the state’s fastest-growing congressional district, and the area has steadily become more Democratic in voter registration. Redistricting experts, including David Wasserman from the Cook Political Report, have noted the district will change significantly with a new map and is likely to become more competitive by shedding “some of its reddest precincts to GOP Rep. Darrell Issa’s 50th CD” (Wasserman, 2/12/21), creating even more of an opportunity for Kurani to unseat Calvert.
