Four South Asian candidates – Fayyaz Raja, Sanje Sedera, Vick Gill and Swadeep Nigam – running for an elected office in the upcoming 2014 elections have raised a combined total of over $98,000 (including loan to the campaigns) in political donations.  Early voting starts Saturday, May 24th while primary election is on June 10th, 2014.  Please get out, vote and support our candidates.

All four candidates have filed their financial report this week reflecting their individual fund raising capabilities and the financial support & commitment from the community.  Fayyaz Raja and Sanje Sedera are running as a Democrat, Vick is running as a Republican candidate, while Swadeep Nigam is running for a non-partisan office.  Interestingly, both, Fayyaz and Sanje are going after the same Assembly District 34 seat.  Apparently there will be acrimonious primary battle between the two South Asian candidates in June primary elections.  Fayyaz has deep ties to the South Asian community and have been active in the community for a long time. 

Fayyaz along with his extended family has been a resident of Las Vegas for over 35 years, while Sanje is in Vegas for over 18 years.  Both have been an active & fairly effective member of the Democratic Party with a brief resume of their involvement on limited political campaigns.  Dr. Vick Gill, running for the Senate District 9, has resided in Vegas for the past three years and has been passionately involved with the conservative causes within the Republican Party.  Dr. Gill is a member of the Central Committee of the Clark County Republican Party.  Swadeep Nigam, an passionate and effective political operator, is running for a non-partisan University Regent office

Reviewing the financials for the first period (Jan-May 20, 2014)  of our community candidates, the political donors from South Asian community have utterly failed to assist any of the aspiring South Asian candidates.  Other than being of South Asian descent, all four candidates reflect one thing in common – the absence of big money from the traditional South Asian political donors.  During the last couple of election cycle, some of the community members have donated copious amount towards political campaigns. Two individuals – R D Prabhu and Radha Chanderraj, donated $10,000 each to Governor Brian Sandoval.

Fayyaz Raja – As a candidate for an Assembly District 34, Fayyaz has not raised any money from donors other than his own family members and has not done any fund raisers during the first reporting cycle.  Fayyaz has loaned $ 6,000 to his own campaign.  During the same time, Fayyaz has spent over $6,900 on campaign related expenses.  With his name recognition and ties to the AD34 community, Fayyaz is confident of winning the primary election.  AD34 is dotted with Fayyaz Raja’s signs for his candidacy.

Sanje Sedera – On September 3^rd, 2013, Sanje was the first to announce his candidacy for the political office. Sanje is running for the same Assembly District 34 as Fayyaz Raja.  Sanje has been actively courting donors for his campaign, however, his financials show a lackluster support.  As per the filed report Sanje has raised $ 4,880 of which $2,500 came from donors in California. On the expense side, Sanje has spent close to $10,500 on political consultant.  

Vick Gill – Vick is running for a Senate District 9 seat which is in Southwest Las Vegas – from Southern Highlands to Mountain Edge communities.  Vick’s report reflects a total of over $62,000 raised during the first reporting cycle.  Vick loaned $60,000 to his campaign.  Vick’s raise is the most watched Senate primary during this election cycle as the control of Senate and moving Governor Sandoval agenda rests on who wins Senate District 9.  

Swadeep Nigam – Swadeep is running for a non-partican Universiry Board of Regent District 3 race against the Chairman of the University Board of Regent.  Swadeep did not organize any fund raiser events or asked for a contribution towards his campaign.  Swadeep loaned $25,000 to his campaign and has spend minimal amount on campaign related expenses.

If you would like to help any of the candidates with their political campaigns and would like to see a community voice in the corridors of Nevada State Legislature, please contact – Vick Gill at 702-518-0369 or vick@vickgill.com  www.vickgill.com;  Fayyaz Raja at 702-321-4512 or www.voteforraja.com; Sanje Sedera at 702-461-8655 or info@electsanjesedera.com  www.electsanjesedera.com; Swadeep Nigam at 702-580-4499 or www.nigamforregent.com.

Early voting starts Saturday, May 24th while primary election is on June 10th, 2014.  Please get out, vote and support our candidates.