Natasha Gupta, 28

Political outsider Natasha Gupta is running to represent Silicon Valley in California’s state assembly. As an Indian American woman, the 28-year-old is driven by a moral imperative to protect the state’s culture of inclusion and diversity.

What was the best piece of advice you received before running for office?

Run a campaign and a message that you're personally proud of, and don't give in to just what other people want of you. 

When did the light bulb go off for you? When did you realize you wanted to run for office?

I've been really concerned and quite honestly disillusioned with politics in our country for a while because of what's been going on in the Trump era. But I think the light bulb just really hit home when the Gilroy Garlic Festival incident happened in our community.

My husband and I happened to have been at the festival and it was just by chance that we didn't go the next day. When all of these details emerged about the motives behind this attack, the shooter posting anti-Semitic content, all of these issues that surrounded Charlottesville and the divisions in our country literally showed up to our front doors here in California.

It just hit personally. It could have been us. The fact that it happened here was something that made me say we have to stand up. We have to represent our voice in our government, for my community, for my generation, and for everybody and anybody who just felt like this was a personal attack on our culture of inclusion in California.

Following that incident, most people looked to Congress to implement gun reform. If elected to the Assembly, how do you think we can tackle gun violence at the state level?

One measure I have proposed is a common-sense gun safety proposal: if you can't bring vegetables and fruits across our border, you should not be able to bring an assault weapon. We should ban assault weapons from being brought into the state by instating ways to be able to search for possession of them at the border.

But I think beyond the immediate proposal of gun safety legislation and background checks, we have to expand the scope by addressing other events around gun violence, which is the disturbing content of these hate groups and social media trends. This content is the chemistry behind these attacks. One proposal that I talked about is shutting down hosting services and not allowing colocation facilities to host websites, platforms, and content that is hosting hateful content associated with white nationalism or with certain hate groups that have been identified.

We lack a lot of legislation behind this right now. It’s something that right now a technology company or a hosting company like GoDaddy does on their own goodwill by yanking hosting services for an extremist website. Right now, it's not specified in our state laws to take proactive action behind this and actually hold our companies accountable for hosting this kind of content.

“Run a campaign and a message that you're personally proud of, and don't give in to just what other people want of you.”

I am also working on a digital health proposal that is going to address a lot of what is behind the proliferation of extremism online. I come from Silicon Valley. I've worked for the last six years in cybersecurity and networking. It's an unconventional path towards politics, but it's these issues we hear a lot about right now when we talk about the security of our government and the electoral process. And frankly, the issue of social media intersects with a lot of these social problems. It is a great opportunity to marry what were traditionally two different sectors of our society into practical policymaking.

The seat you’re running for encompasses a large part of Silicon Valley. How do you think technology companies will react to the proposals that you put out? Do you think there will be tension between the government and the tech industry?

I've been working for the last six years in Silicon Valley that it very much wants to be a part of the solution and not the problem. You see many technology leaders, in fact, taking a very vocal stand. Look at Tim Cook, for example, going to the Supreme Court to stand up for the DACA recipients. He has been so outspoken about being on the right side of this issue.

It’s my belief that there doesn't have to be a split between Silicon Valley and state governments but in fact, it’s a huge opportunity for cooperation and innovative solutions on the part of Silicon Valley. Our state government can champion a lot of policies that can set an example for the rest of our nation.  California, that's who we are. We're a state that has always been on the side of progressing in the path forward of setting an example. I talk a lot about how we set an example of moral leadership on so many of the pivotal issues of our time.

You volunteered with Obama’s campaign in high school, and now lead Silicon Valley for Pete. What was it that first got you civically involved?

I've always been civically engaged. I grew up in a home where we always talked politics at our dinner table. I also came from a family that was always very civically involved. I had a grandfather who was particularly vocal on political issues as a journalist and participated in protests in India.

But really what got me this by the political started was when I was a teen. Obama was really the first politician that spoke to me as an Indian American kid growing up in a deeply conservative town. In fact, in the Audacity of Hope speech, he has a line about how a skinny kid with a funny name having a place in America too. When you grow up the way that I did, hearing a politician speak to you that way is something that makes you feel like you're included as part of the fabric of the American story. It was very powerful and that's why I wanted to do whatever I could to help him get elected.

I started with the kitchen table stuff like phone banking. Then I went to college and studied environmental policy at UC San Diego. I actually ended up going to the private sector, and really didn't get back into politics until I got familiar with Mayor Pete. He's a very transformative politician. He is somebody who as a mayor of a conservative town, spoke to people that are on both sides and tried to champion listening to each other and be inclusive of different points of view, reminding us of our common American identity. He speaks about winning an era.

When he was this budding politician on the national stage and they were building out a lot of their operations in California, I took a very active and interest and forefront role in community organizing for him here in Silicon Valley, when I started Silicon Valley for Pete. I grew it to about 130 members, and I was very fortunate that the campaign's operations in California actually engaged with me. I got to see up close what is it like when the campaign scaled out where he is right now, ranking number four or five in the presidential race. It’s pretty remarkable as there was a lot running against him in terms of his age, in terms of his experience, in terms of just being the mayor of an obscure town rising to be a nationally recognized figure.

His candidacy showed me how our politics is changing, including the types of candidates that are running for higher ticket offices. Frankly, young people just jumping in headfirst and making social change based on what makes them passionate is something that we're seeing more and more. It should never be a barrier to entering politics that you lack experience, you lack the typical resume of a candidate that runs for that position.

“I feel our culture of inclusion in California is something that needs to be protected, especially a community like District 25 that has so many people from different parts of the world living here.”

Do you feel anyone has ever pushed back on you in this campaign because of your age or, as you mentioned, a lack of experience?

The first question people will ask you is, “You look very young. Are you ready for what this will entail? Are you ready for the shake up that will happen in your life? You're thinking about moving to Sacramento and taking on a completely different world from what the corporate world has been.” I think what I lean back is just, frankly, how deeply I feel about the issues that I'm running on. I feel our culture of inclusion in California is something that needs to be protected, especially a community like District 25 that has so many people from different parts of the world living here. You come to this community and it’s such a fabric. The way our towns and our local culture is shaped, like seeing how holidays like a Chinese New Year and an annual Diwali festival is so openly celebrated and championed by the city government is something that propels me every day to take a stand that we have to protect that culture of diversity. It's one it's what makes us great, and I think it's what is being attacked.

That's the passion with which I come into this race and I feel equipped to take on that challenge because I feel propelled by a moral imperative to really stand up. I think also not coming from politics, not coming with entrenched relationships, coming in as an outsider, I don't feel bound by the traditional party relationships and roles. I feel very open to just say what is right, have the courage to say what is even uncomfortable sometimes, and to really reflect my constituency. Not bound by what the party wants me to say or what is politically safe in the moment to take a position on.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to another young Democrat who is thinking of running for office?

My advice would be to never sell out and always remember why you got into the race. Take a stand for what you truly believe.

 The views expressed in this interview are those of the candidate, and do not reflect the beliefs and views of Ballot Breakers or its staff.