2022 political season is in full swing with major political parties positioning themselves to control the future of America.  The mid-term election is a preview of what lies ahead for the candidates, political parties, and the tumultuous global economy.  This year the voters will have an opportunity to elect their representatives for the U.S. Congress, U.S. Senate, all the statewide constitutional offices, members of the NV State Assembly, a couple of State Senators along with some members of the Clark County Commission, City Council, and the School Board members.  As of today, no member of the South Asian community has announced his/her candidacy during this election cycle. 

As of the last financial reports dated December 31, 2021, the local South Asian political donors, especially members of the Indian community, have donated over $306,000 to the candidates running for the local and state offices. Almost all of the political donations went to Democrats.  Many of the registered Republican members of the community have donated to the incumbent Democrats. This report doesn’t include contributions to the candidates running for federal elected offices.

Incumbent Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak raised over $137,000 from the South-Asian community, with 10 donors donating $10,000 each, along with 5 donors donating $5,000 each.  The largest donor to Sisolak’s campaign is Nagy family with a combined contribution totaling $25,000.  One donor, Vinod Gadley, donated a set monthly amount to the incumbent Democratic Governor Sisolak.  As of the end of 2021, Governor Sisolak with no serious primary contender has accumulated a war chest of over $8 million to stay in the Governor’s mansion.

Sheriff Joe Lombardo, the Republican candidate for the NV State Governor, received over $34,000 from the Indian community.  The majority of Lombardo’s donors/supporters are Cardiologists with the NV Heart and Vascular Group LLP along with a certain section of Indian small business owners.

Las Vegas City Councilwoman and a candidate for the NV State Governor Michelle Fiore received one donation of $5,000 from Red Rupee LLC/Rupinder Cheema.

North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee, Democrat turned Republican candidate for the Governor received $2,500 from 5 donors including a major donation from Farus Farmanali via Farmanali Family Trust.

The incumbent Clark County District Attorney Steven Wolfson collected over $30,000 from 5 donors from our local community. Attorney Farhan Naqvi and Physician Dr. R. D. Prabhu each donated $10,000 to DA Wolfson.  Dr. Paul Janda donated $5,000 to the campaign followed by a $4,000 campaign contribution from Paul Padda Law.

Incumbent Attorney General Aaron Ford received over $23,500.  Ford’s biggest donor is Physician/Attorney Paul Janda with a single donation of $10,000.

Two incumbent County Commissioners, Richard Segerblom and Justin Jones got $11,000 and $13,750, respectively from our growing and prosperous community.  NV Heart and Vascular donated $10,000 to Commissioner Segerblom, while Commissioner Justin Jones’ largest donor is Farus Farmanali of Farmanali Family Trust with a donation of $5,000, who also donated the same amount to Governor Steve Sisolak campaign.  Jones contributors include a former candidate for the Nevada State Assembly Radhika Kunnel, Ash Mirchandani, and Jaspreet Kaur at the fundraiser hosted by Ash Mirchandani and Radhika Kunnel among others.  

Nevada Athletic Commission member Francisco Aguilar (D) and Gerald Ramalho (R), retired TV news personality, vying for the Nevada Secretary of State position have raised $3,150 and $6,450 respectively.  A major donor to candidate Ramalho is Sunny Tara with a contribution of $5,000 at the fundraiser Tara hosted at his home.

Clark County Sheriff candidate Kevin McMahill raked in over $39,000. Rupinder Chima and Pavan Bhargava each contributed $10,000 to McMahills’ campaign. Rita and Manohar (Mike) Vaswani’s social outfit Asian American Group donated $5,000 along with a $1,000 personal check from Rita. Harpreet Singh, President, Indian Chamber of Commerce contributed $1,000.

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