1. What experience will you bring that has prepared you to be a strong Member of Congress?
I’ve spent 30 years doing high-stakes economic work that affects our everyday lives, where getting the numbers wrong means families pay more. For example, I worked with the Department of Justice to stop the Anthem-Cigna merger because it would have raised health insurance prices, and I warned Chicago not to chase the 2016 Olympics because taxpayers would’ve been stuck with the bill. I’m focused on the economy because it underlies every issue we’re dealing with, when the family economy works, everything else gets easier to solve.
2. Do you have a connection to the Asian American community in the 9th District? If so, can you share about that connection?
Yes. I was born in India (my middle name is Anand), so this connection is personal, not performative. It will shape how I do the job across the board, listening closely, taking civil and immigrant rights seriously, and making sure economic policy, which underlies everything from public safety to health care, education, and housing, actually works for Asian American families and for every community in IL-09.
3. What is your number one priority if elected?
Affordability, fixing the family economy, because people don’t make enough money and life costs too much. I’m running to deliver an Affordability Agenda that works in the economic and political reality we live in, not slogans or wish lists. That means using real economic levers to lower the costs that hit families hardest and make the American Dream affordable again.
4. If elected, how will you address the rising costs of groceries, utility bills, housing and other essential needs?
You can’t fix affordability with one tool, you need two, raise incomes and lower the big monthly bills. I’ll push small business profit-sharing so workers share in the success they help create, and I’ll go after costs directly, starting with housing by fixing the mortgage tax break so it actually helps middle-class families and first-time buyers, not mainly the people with the biggest mortgages. That’s the Affordability Agenda in plain terms, more money coming in, less going out.
5. What will you do to ensure every person has access to quality and affordable healthcare?
First, protect and strengthen what’s working, keep the ACA’s consumer protections and prevent families from getting priced out by preserving the premium subsidies. Then use real economic levers to bring costs down, tougher scrutiny of hospital and insurer mergers, which I’ve done at the highest levels, and lowering prescription drug costs by speeding safe approvals and competition, as we proved we can do during COVID. These are practical steps Congress can actually pass and that can start lowering costs quickly.
6. Do you support a pathway to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants? If yes, what will you do to make the pathway a reality?
Yes, I support a real pathway to citizenship, and it has to be workable in practice, not just a slogan. One of the biggest bottlenecks is the court system, so I’ll push to fully staff and fund immigration judges and the legal processing capacity needed to move cases fairly and efficiently. Pair that with clear statutory standards and you can turn “pathway” from a talking point into an actual process people can navigate.
7. How would you increase language access to federal offices such as unemployment and social security, particularly for Asian American immigrants?
Federal funding for language access has been declining, and that’s a mistake, when people can’t understand or be understood, they can’t access basic services, and our democracy suffers along with it. I’ll fight to restore and expand funding for translation, interpretation, and culturally competent access in offices like Social Security and unemployment so language is never the barrier that keeps someone from benefits they’ve earned. This is personal for me, my mother taught ESL for 30 years for free, and I spent time in those classrooms, so I’ve seen up close what it takes to make access real.
8. How would you address the issues of the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Do you support abolishing ICE?
Yes. I support abolishing ICE and rebuilding immigration enforcement from the ground up, because what we have now is broken and too often shockingly un-American and violent. Immigration is a real policy challenge that deserves practical solutions, clear rules, and a fair and efficient process. In the short term, I want real accountability for abuses, including financial liability and damages when government actions cause predictable harm, as a first step toward holding decision-makers responsible.
9. Gun control has been an intractable issue in Congress. What would you do to move the issue forward?
Start with what already has bipartisan precedent and broad public support: bring back a federal ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, like the 1994 bipartisan Assault Weapons Ban. Illinois has been a leader here, but guns cross state lines, so this is exactly what the federal government is for. Then keep building from there with enforcement and accountability that actually makes communities safer, not just another round of speeches.