Raj and his wife, Monica, live in Lower Manhattan with their two teenage daughters and both grandmothers. Though they miss their fathers deeply, they feel blessed to have raised their girls surrounded by all four grandparents on the same block—a rare gift in New York City.

Raj’s story began when his parents immigrated to Rochester, NY, from India with medical degrees, a few dollars, and a dream for a better life. After completing their training, they moved to Wichita, Kansas, where Raj grew up.

As a student, Raj got his start in advocacy and politics early—proudly giving Democrat Walter Mondale his only vote out of 20 in a fourth-grade mock election. Raj was picketing the chemical plant in his town and started the first pickup recycling program in his town just in high school. 

After graduating from Duke University and Harvard Law School, Raj dedicated his career to public service and civil rights. He trained at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Public Citizen, and after 9/11, Raj joined the ACLU to fight for immigrant and civil rights for all Americans.

Raj met Monica—a New Yorker and the daughter of two public school teachers—while studying abroad in South Africa. They married in 2004, and, prioritizing family, moved back to Wichita to be near Raj’s parents.

In 2006, he won one of the toughest State House races in the country, defeating a Koch-backed Republican incumbent in a district no Democrat had ever carried. By personally knocking on 10,000 doors, Raj built a coalition that cut across party lines.

During his four years in the Kansas legislature, Raj voted down the line as a pro-labor, pro-choice, and anti-NRA progressive. His votes and advocacy supported working families, reduced healthcare costs, improved public schools, and fought for immigration justice and clean energy—all in a deep-red state.

In 2010, he ran a spirited congressional campaign against Mike Pompeo, who would later become Trump’s Secretary of State.

After the campaign, Raj, Monica, and their one-year-old daughter Ana returned to New York permanently, later welcoming their second daughter, Sara. Raj worked in philanthropy, supporting dozens of nonprofits while continuing to help Democrats win elections nationally and locally. In 2014, he co-founded a legal technology company based on the ethos of rooting out corporate waste and making companies more efficient and transparent. As CEO, he built the company into a thriving business and oversaw its successful sale in 2021. Raj then stepped out of the public arena to become a primary caretaker for his ailing father, who passed away in 2022.

Raj has remained deeply engaged in New York public life. He founded Phone Free New York, helping secure passage of the nation’s largest bell-to-bell ban on cell phones.

He chaired the 5BORO Institute, now part of Citizens Union, where he continues to champion innovative public policy solutions around the most pressing issues in New York City.

From his family’s immigrant journey to his own path through law, politics, business, and civic leadership, Raj has built a career defined by service, resilience, and a belief in the power of organizing community.