Priya Sundareshan elected Arizona Senate President

Washington, Nov 7 (PTI) Indian-American Priya Sundareshan has been elected as the President of the Arizona Senate, as the Democratic Party seized control of the state legislature and the governor’s mansion for the first time in 60 years.

     Sundareshan, 42, a three-term member of the Arizona Senate, is the minority leader in the outgoing chamber.

     “Wherever you live and whoever you voted for, we’re here to work for you,” Sundareshan said after being elected as the Arizona state Senate Democratic Leader.

     She said the Democrats were poised to control the House, the Senate and the gubernatorial post in Arizona for the first time in 60 years.

     “Voters have opened the door to historic change. Our responsibility is to make sure they feel that change in their daily lives. Let's get to work,” she said.

     “This is a rejection of the MAGA extremism that Republicans have been pushing here at home,” Sundareshan said.

     Born in Tucson, Arizona, to an Indian-American family, Sundareshan taught natural resources law at the University of Arizona and advocated for sustainable resource management with the Environmental Defence Fund.

     As a voting rights advocate, she has led voter protection efforts and engagement on redistricting within the Arizona Democratic Party.

     She earned a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from MIT in 2006, followed by a Juris Doctor and a Master's in natural resource economics from the University of Arizona in 2011.

     Having studied engineering at MIT and law and natural resource economics at the University of Arizona, Sundareshan favours more science-based decision-making in politics.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)