Dr Darshana Patel, who has won the state assembly election from California’s 76th district in San Diego, defeating her Republican opponent Kristie Bruce-Lane, is no newbie to public life and community leadership. “I am the daughter of Indian immigrants and I understand the challenges that families in my district face from rising cost of living in California.My dad was a small business owner and I am very concerned about the affordability issues that people in my community are facing and the pressures on our local economy. My campaign was focussed on these issues,” she told the Times of India in an exclusive interview. The issues that she will now represent and take with her to the state assembly in Sacramento, not surprisingly, include housing affordability and the rising cost of gas, groceries, healthcare and other essentials. She is going to work on bringing down the cost of living in her region and helping working families make ends meet.
“I have seen that many people who take care of our families like nurses, fire fighters, police officers and teachers cannot afford to live in our community and have to commute long distances for work. Affordable housing, especially for entry level professionals, is one of my priorities. I want to help the workforce in our community to find a piece of the American dream,” she said.
Patel, who is an elected trustee of Poway Unified School District and serves on the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs, as president of the San Diego County School Boards Association, and is a member of the San Diego County Democratic Party Central Committee, feels that she had brought to public life the traditional values of hard work having grown up in an Indian immigrant family.
“My father was a civil engineer and worked in the Indian railways before he came here to the US. When bringing us up, he led a simple life and didn’t drink or smoke but, unfortunately, was among the first to be let go by the organisation where he worked,” Patel, who has memories of the economic instability in the 1970s in the US, says. “My mom was incredible and resilient and started a small business of milling flour to bring some income home. She did all this without the savvy of American culture and it was the problem solving, creative, figure-it-out yourself aspect of her personality and how she raised us that helped me to do the work that I am doing today as a public servant,” Patel recollects.
A graduate in biochemistry with a Ph.D. in biophysics; Patel gave up a successful career in biotechnology research to find other ways to give back to her community. “Having grown up in an immigrant family, I understand the value of access to high quality public education. Public school teachers and college scholarships help in determining whether you will be successful or not, especially for immigrants. I did my degree in biophysics and research in biotech and I was able to make the transition from the STEM field into public service because of our cultural values of not just working for ourselves but also serving others,” says Patel who chose research in a field connected to medicine and health because she lost her mother to an undiagnosed medical condition when she was only 14.
Her father had died without being able to access federal health insurance coverage and lack of affordable healthcare benefits, for Patel, is a societal problem that needs to be addressed. “That was a very emotional time for my brothers and me. It made me rethink about a career in developing cutting edge therapeutics when many people cannot access basic healthcare,” she says. And that was the reason behind her decision to choose a role in giving back to society. “I decided, with my husband, to move to a district where we could live on one income with our kids and I could become active in working in the community to honour the memory of my father,” Patel says. In 2016, she ran and won elections for the Poway Unified School District board which was struggling because of financial mismanagement. She was re-elected in 2020.
“I ran for the school board with the strength that came to me from my involvement in the local community. People had seen my work from how I organised myself; made decisions and how much I cared. I always had a problem solving approach and wanted to work in a logical way to help people, while making sure that we were honouring our community values and priorities,” says Patel. She feels that the experience that she has gained in how local government works and learning about the budgets will be a big asset for her at the state assembly. “The state spends 40% of its money on public education and understanding how that works was very helpful. I also learnt how public employment works and what our future is going to look like through the dreams and struggles of our children. All this helped me figure out my own priorities about what I needed to do,” she says. Patel adds that she is closely connected with the local community and when she thinks about affordable housing or supporting small businesses, she personally knows which families that she will be able to help.
Her own campaign ran alongside that of Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Patel found it exciting and energising to see a woman of Indian origin run for the highest office in the US. “She ran an impressive campaign and it was good to see young people from our local community support both our campaigns. And while we are disappointed; I am really now focussed on my local district and on the needs of my community. At the end of the day, I am answerable to the voters who elected me. I have to honour their confidence and look very carefully at our policies and see whether they benefit the people in our local communities,” she says and adds that her district is politically moderate and priorities include public safety, support for small businesses, public education and healthcare. “Stimulating the local economy through innovation and technology are the areas that I am going to focus on and I think that I have the mandate to do that.”
Patel, who was born in Pittsburgh, found a lot of support for her campaign from the Indian American and South Asian communities. “I am very connected with the Indian American community here and several leaders and organisations supported me. I grew up in America in the 70s when Indian communities were small and far between. Now being able to connect with my Indian roots, for me, has been a very special experience,” she says. Her Indian heritage is important and Patel celebrates Indian festivals and events with enthusiasm. “My three daughters are all training in classical Bharatnatyam dance and their dance guru, Suman Nayak, is also of Indian origin. She is someone who knows what our kids need to help them connect with their Indian cultural roots while also appreciating that they are American kids,” Patel says.