Financials Disclosure by South Asian Candidates
Three South Asian candidates – Fayyaz Raja, Sanje Sedera and Vick Gill – running for a political office in the upcoming 2014 elections have collected a combined total of over $89,000 in political donations.
All three have filed their first 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, while Vick is running as a Republican candidate. 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.
In the past six months, South Asian community donated over $65,000 to NV Governor Sandoval’s re-election campaign. With no major opponent in sight, Governor Sandoval has raised over $3 million for the period ending December 3rd 2013. Major donors to Governor Sandoval are Dr. Dipti Shah (in-kind donation for catering $8,500), Dr. Jaswinder Grover ($10,000), Dr. Sohail Anjum’s Heart Center ($5,000) and Dr. Ikram Khan’s Pakistani American NV PAC ($5,000). The same group of political donors from South Asian community has utterly failed to assist any of the aspiring South Asian candidates.
Politically speaking, both Fayyaz and Sanje put up anemic financial numbers with no cash in hand as of today. Other than being of South Asian descent, all three 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.
Three Candidates, Three Fascinating Financials
Fayyaz Raja – As a candidate for an Assembly District 34, Fayyaz has not raised any money from donors other than his own family members. Fayyaz and family has loaned $ 12,000 to Fayyaz Raja’a campaign. Fayyaz financial reporting reflects his inability to raise any campaign funds from any of the independent donors. Fayyaz has already spent over $11,470 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 8×4 signs for his candidacy.
Sanje Sedera – On September 3rd, 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. As per the filed report Sanje has raised $ 16,000 including $4,300 personal loan to his own campaign.
During 2008 election cycle, Sanje announced his candidacy for Assembly District 2; however, he withdrew his candidacy for unknown politically correct reasons. On the expense side, Sanje has spent close to $12,000 on political consultant. With no money in the bank and soon approaching primaries in June 2013, Sanje does not have any political signs or banners in AD34.
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 $61,000 raised in December 2013. Most of the money raised ($55,000), came from Vick’s family members in Lodi, CA. The major expense of $2,500, as shown in the report is for a political consultant. Vick has over $55,000 in the bank and is aggressively forming a political campaign team to win Senate District 9 in June primaries.
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 702-461-8655or info@electsanjesedera.com www.electsanjesedera.com.