Rish Oberoi, 28
28-year-old Rish Oberoi is poised to become the first South Asian ever elected to the Texas State House. Formerly a teacher in understaffed Houston schools, Oberoi saw first hand how few resources the state was providing students. As a fresh voice to represent Fort Bend, he aims to put families first in the state legislature.
What was the best piece of advice you received about running for office?
Knock on doors like your life depends on it.
What are the potholes in your district? What are the issues you feel are going ignored and you want to see addressed?
As with every District, the number one and two concerns are always health care and education. Even in a county as prosperous as Fort Bend, there are still far too many folks being left behind, and the best thing we can do is to ensure everybody has unfettered access to high-quality health care and education if we're going to be ready to face the challenges of the 21st century.
You’re running to be first South Asian elected to Texas State House. If successful, what do you think your election will mean to your community?
While it's great that South Asian communities will finally see one of their own elected to the Legislature, I'm running to represent everyone in my district, even those who don't vote for me. However, I do hope to cause a significant increase in the AAPI voter turnout. These communities often vote in low numbers, which is especially problematic in a low voter turnout state like Texas. I believe that every candidate running for office should be thinking about how they can best increase voter turnout in their communities, and the most meaningful thing I can do for the AAPI communities is to show them that their vote matters.
“…the most meaningful thing I can do for the AAPI communities is to show them that their vote matters.”
Texas has long been considered a Republican stronghold, but now you’re fighting to turn the state blue. What do you believe is the path to victory is for Democrats, from your race to those across the state?
Texas House of Representatives is currently only nine seats away from a Democratic majority, after flipping 12 seats in 2018. Instead of worrying about which distant national figures are going to come save us, Texas will turn blue once we have strong local candidates that can impact their specific districts. We can't keep running as the anti-Trump party and instead need to be ready to go door-to-door and begin the hard work of being able to have conversations with our neighbors again.
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Knock on doors like your life depends on it.”
Young candidates are often dismissed because of their lack of experience. Do you feel like ageism has affected your race, and if so, how do you combat it?
The whole point of the House of Representatives is to have folks from all sorts of backgrounds with a diversity in life experience, and there's currently an appreciable lack of folks from my generation in the Legislature. However, even though I'm the youngest candidate in my race, I still have the most legislative and campaign experience, as well as the highest fundraising numbers, the largest volunteer army, and the most comprehensive plan for what we're going to do once we win this seat.
What advice would you give to another young Democrat considering a run for office?
The only reason I'm able to do this is because I spent years working on campaigns building up a coalition of like-minded people that are ready to help us win this race. Generally when older folks run for office they have the advantage of personal wealth and connections to others with money that will donate. If you can't beat them at that game, make sure you have a grassroots army to back you up.
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.