By Parveen Chopra
Hicksville, NY: Karen Bhatia, an attorney, tech innovator, and former New York City economic development official, is confident that her extensive groundwork to listen to the concerns of residents of the 18th District and promise to address them will win her election to the Nassau County legislature on November 4.
Her campaign—built around affordability, infrastructure, and modernizing government — seeks to translate years of innovation policy into local governance.
Karen considers her race with Republican rival, incumbent Samantha Goetz, as competitive. District 18 is evenly split between Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated voters. Yet, she may have an edge, as she told The South Asian Times, “My platform is one of unity, and trying to bridge the partisan divide. To focus on common sense solutions that work across the community.”
While agreeing that her district comprises mostly affluent areas like Old Westbury, Muttontown and Brookville, Karen found that cost of living and affordability are still issues there. “People are primarily concerned about cutting waste in government and also about taxes.” Infrastructure issues of concern relate to public safety, road safety, drinking water quality, and bacterial levels in beach water.
Running for elected office for the first time, Karen Bhatia is committed to bridging the partisan divide and addressing her constituents' concerns. (Photo Courtesy: Karen Bhatia)
Her background (at the NYC Economic Development Corporation, spearheading initiatives in emerging tech sectors — including responsible AI, blockchain, and virtual and augmented reality) will come in handy as she figures out ways to make government more efficient while serving constituents better and more cost-effectively.
Her outreach has included listening sessions and meet-and-greets called Coffee with Karen, which will ring a bell for South Asians. She reports, “They have been very supportive and excited about the prospect of having an Asian American, particularly a South Asian, legislator in the county.”
Over 15% of the population of her district is Asian Americans, and they are the fastest-growing segment in Nassau County. Says she, “It's important for us to make sure that we do have representation in the legislature. There's never been an Asian American legislator in Nassau County.”
When asked whether she has entered politics for the long haul, she replies prudently, “This is my first time running for office and is a brand new experience for me. But I'm committed to the issues that really brought me to run. I'm concerned about what's happening on the national level in this country, which mirrors what is at the local level - inability for us to talk to each other and try to address the concerns, the priorities that we have on a very local level that go beyond partisanship, that go beyond religious differences and ethnic differences. Why I decided to run is to bring us together to address these issues.”
Born in Brazil to a Brazilian mother and an Indian father, Karen came to this country when she was two years old. She went to public schools in New York. A graduate of Stanford, she earned her master’s in Public Policy at Harvard and a Juris Doctorate from George Washington University.
In conclusion, she says the main motivating factor for her to get involved in politics is to ensure that, like her immigrant family, others too continue to have the same level of opportunity in our community to achieve the American Dream.
Founding Editor of The South Asian Times, Parveen Chopra runs ALotusInTheMud.com, the premier wellness and spirituality web magazine.
