US Congressional Candidate Swati Dandekar, Neil Khot and Mrs Annu Khot
CHICAGO: A former member of Iowa House of Representative and Iowa State Senator, Indian American Swati Dandekar of Marion has now set her sight to be a member of the US Congress seeking Democratic nomination from 1st District in Iowa.
Her bid for the US congress is gaining popular support and one of the indicators is that she could raise a much bigger campaign fund for the quarter ending September beating her near rivals quite impressively.
Indian Americans across Midwest and even in USA are keenly watching her progress and a group of Indian American supporters in Illinois have decided to rally around her candidacy by organizing a fundraiser at Meadows Club in Rolling Meadows.
Neil Khote, a community activist and front ranking supporter of Ms Dandeker said that this would be a second such effort to raise funds for her, the first being two months ago in September. He said that he has support of a large number of community leaders who have decided to co-host the Meadows Club fund raiser.
He informed that the big winner in the US House 1st District money primary in 1st District Iowa, at least for the July 1 to Sept. 30 quarter, was an Indian American Swati Dandekar of Marion, one of the five Democrats seeking the nomination in the open-seat race. In her first fundraising quarter, Dandekar, a former member of the State Legislature and Iowa Utilities Board, reported raising $223,747.
That puts her in the same ballpark as Cedar Rapids City Councilwoman Monica Vernon and Rep. Pat Murphy of Dubuque, who have raised about $225,000 and $230,000, respectively, since they entered the race. Murphy raised $78,000 in the third quarter, according to his Federal Election Commission quarterly report.
Democrats expected Dandekar to put up impressive numbers based on her work and connections in Iowa and beyond. “I think it shows that I’m a formidable candidate,” Dandekar said. “I’m a serious candidate – that’s the message.”
On the GOP ticket, Dubuque businessman Rod Blum reported raising $60,000 in the most recent quarter. The third quarter number is down from the $103,108 Blum reported in July.
Steve Rathje, a Cedar Rapids businessman seeking the GOP nod, had not made his fundraising numbers available by Tuesday, the deadline for filing with the FEC. A third GOP hopeful, Rep. Walt Rogers of Waterloo, entered the race after the third quarter ended,
Swati Dandekar received her bachelor’s degree in Biology & Chemistry from Nagpur University and post graduate diploma in dietetics from Bombay University. Swati and her husband Arvind live in Marion, Iowa. Arvind is President/CEO of Fastek International, a software development firm.
Ramesh Soparawala
