Raja Krishnamoorthi
Encyclopedia
S. Raja Krishnamoorthi is currently a Democratic candidate for United States House of Representatives
in Illinois' 8th congressional district
.
Krishnamoorthi was the policy director and a senior advisor for Barack Obama
's 2004 U.S. Senate campaign
. He also served as an advisor to Obama's 2008 Presidential campaign
. In April 2009, he resigned from his position as Deputy Treasurer of Illinois and ran for the Democratic nomination for Illinois State Comptroller
. Krishnamoorthi's campaign, which gained the two major Chicago newspaper endorsements, garnered nearly 386,000 votes.
, India
. He was 3 months old when his parents immigrated to the United States and brought him to Buffalo, New York
. There his father completed a graduate degree in industrial engineering. In 1980, the family moved to Peoria, Illinois
, after his father was appointed a faculty member at Bradley University
. His family's heritage is from Tamil Nadu, India.
from Richwoods High School
in Peoria, Illinois and then attended Princeton University
, where he graduated summa cum laude in mechanical engineering and with a minor in public policy
from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
. After two years in management consulting, he attended Harvard Law School
, graduating with honors. After his 2000 graduation, he clerked for Judge Joan B. Gottschall
at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
. He then joined the Chicago law firm of Kirkland & Ellis
in 2002, where he practiced commercial litigation and became a partner in the firm. He left Kirkland & Ellis in 2007 to become Illinois's Deputy State Treasurer.
, Krishnamoorthi served in several positions in Obama's campaigns, first in Obama's failed primary run in the 1st congressional district election in 2000
. In Obama's successful 2004 U.S. Senate campaign
, Krishnamoorthi was issues director during the primary and a senior advisor during the general election. He also advised Obama in the 2008 presidential election
. On July 31, 2009, Krishnamoorthi visited the White House and had a personal meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office
.
in the 2006 Iowa race
, and to Ted Strickland
in the 2006 Ohio race
.
, Krishnamoorthi was appointed by Illinois Attorney General
Lisa Madigan
as a Special Assistant Attorney General to help start the anti-corruption Public Integrity Unit. He also served on the board of the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), becoming chair of its Audit Committee. The IHDA is charged with helping low- and moderate-income Illinoisans find affordable housing.
On September 12, 2007, Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias
appointed Krishnamoorthi his Deputy Treasurer for Policy and Programs, making Krishnamoorthi one of the highest-ranking Indian American
s to serve the State of Illinois. As Deputy Treasurer, Krishnamoorthi was responsible for overseeing programs in the Illinois Treasurer's Office involving the custody and administration of billions of dollars in state funds. He also helped the Illinois Treasurer's Office administer ethics and transparency rules.
for Illinois Comptroller. During his bid to be the first Asian-American to be elected to statewide office in Illinois, his campaign broke fundraising records for the primary election for the Comptroller's race, garnered endorsements from more than 100 elected and community leaders from Illinois, launched a statewide television advertisement, and earned the endorsement of both major Chicago newspapers, the Chicago Tribune
, and the Chicago Sun-Times
. In the election, Krishnamoorthi won over 380,000 votes, coming within 1 percent of winning the Democractic nomination for Comptroller (unofficial results). As a result, he was among a list of candidates considered for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
, after the primary winner Scott Lee Cohen
stepped down from the nomination due to a domestic abuse scandal.
.
.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in Illinois' 8th congressional district
Illinois' 8th congressional district
The 8th congressional district of Illinois covers the northern suburbs of Chicago, including portions of Lake, McHenry and Cook counties. The district includes most of Chicago's northwestern suburbs, such as Hoffman Estates, Arlington Heights, Schaumburg, Gurnee, Palatine, Mundelein, Zion,...
.
Krishnamoorthi was the policy director and a senior advisor for Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's 2004 U.S. Senate campaign
United States Senate election in Illinois, 2004
The 2004 United States Senate election in Illinois was held on November 2, 2004. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald decided to retire after one term. The Democratic and Republican primary elections were held in March, which included a total of 15 candidates who combined to spend a...
. He also served as an advisor to Obama's 2008 Presidential campaign
Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008
Barack Obama, then junior United States Senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007. On August 27, 2008, he was declared nominee of the Democratic Party for the 2008 presidential election...
. In April 2009, he resigned from his position as Deputy Treasurer of Illinois and ran for the Democratic nomination for Illinois State Comptroller
Illinois State Comptroller
The Comptroller of Illinois is an elected official of the U.S. state of Illinois. He or she is responsible for maintaining the State's accounts, and for ordering payments into and out of them...
. Krishnamoorthi's campaign, which gained the two major Chicago newspaper endorsements, garnered nearly 386,000 votes.
Early life and family
Raja Krishnamoorthi was born in 1973 in New DelhiNew Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. He was 3 months old when his parents immigrated to the United States and brought him to Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. There his father completed a graduate degree in industrial engineering. In 1980, the family moved to Peoria, Illinois
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
, after his father was appointed a faculty member at Bradley University
Bradley University
Bradley University, founded in 1897, is a private, co-educational university located in Peoria, Illinois. It is a small institution with an enrollment of approximately 6,100 undergraduate and postgraduate students and a full-time faculty of approximately 350....
. His family's heritage is from Tamil Nadu, India.
Education and private sector experience
Krishnamoorthi graduated a ValedictorianValedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
from Richwoods High School
Richwoods High School
Richwoods High School is the most northern of the three regular public high schools in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Opened as a township high school in 1957, it was brought into Peoria Public Schools District 150 in the 1960s. Feeder middle schools are Mark Bills, Lindbergh, Rolling Acres...
in Peoria, Illinois and then attended Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, where he graduated summa cum laude in mechanical engineering and with a minor in public policy
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school has granted undergraduate A.B. degrees since 1930 and graduate degrees since 1948...
. After two years in management consulting, he attended Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, graduating with honors. After his 2000 graduation, he clerked for Judge Joan B. Gottschall
Joan B. Gottschall
Joan B. Gottschall is a United States federal judge.Born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Gottschall received a B.A. from Smith College in 1969 and a J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1973. She was then in private practice in Chicago, Illinois until 1976, and again from 1978 to 1982, serving as a staff...
at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is the trial-level court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois....
. He then joined the Chicago law firm of Kirkland & Ellis
Kirkland & Ellis
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is an international law firm with headquarters in Chicago, known for its profitability and its litigation, bankruptcy, intellectual property and private equity departments. Kirkland & Ellis is currently ranked as the ninth most prestigious law firm in the United States by...
in 2002, where he practiced commercial litigation and became a partner in the firm. He left Kirkland & Ellis in 2007 to become Illinois's Deputy State Treasurer.
Relationship with Barack Obama
A long-time friend of Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, Krishnamoorthi served in several positions in Obama's campaigns, first in Obama's failed primary run in the 1st congressional district election in 2000
Illinois's 1st congressional district election, 2000
The 2000 United States House of Representatives election for the 1st district in Illinois took place on November 7, 2000. While incumbent Democratic Representative Bobby Rush handily defeated his Republican opponent, Raymond Wardingley, this race is noteworthy for the primary challenge Rush...
. In Obama's successful 2004 U.S. Senate campaign
United States Senate election in Illinois, 2004
The 2004 United States Senate election in Illinois was held on November 2, 2004. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald decided to retire after one term. The Democratic and Republican primary elections were held in March, which included a total of 15 candidates who combined to spend a...
, Krishnamoorthi was issues director during the primary and a senior advisor during the general election. He also advised Obama in the 2008 presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
. On July 31, 2009, Krishnamoorthi visited the White House and had a personal meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office
Oval Office
The Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end...
.
State candidate donations
During the non-presidential year of 2006, Krishnamoorthi made two contributions to gubernatorial candidates in other states: to Chet CulverChet Culver
Chester John "Chet" Culver was the 41st Governor of Iowa, from 2007 to 2011. He was also elected as the Federal Liaison for the Democratic Governors Association for 2008-2009. He founded the Chet Culver Group, an energy sector consulting firm, in 2011.-Early life and education:Culver was born in...
in the 2006 Iowa race
Iowa gubernatorial election, 2006
The Iowa gubernatorial election of 2006 took place November 7, 2006. The incumbent governor, Tom Vilsack, a Democrat, had served two terms and decided not to seek a third term. In the election, Culver defeated Nussle to win the governorship, by a margin of 54.4 percent to 44.1 percent...
, and to Ted Strickland
Ted Strickland
Theodore "Ted" Strickland was the 68th Governor of Ohio, serving from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ....
in the 2006 Ohio race
Ohio gubernatorial election, 2006
The Ohio gubernatorial election of 2006 was held on November 7, 2006, and was a race for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Ohio. Incumbent Governor Bob Taft could not run for re-election, as Ohio governors are limited to two consecutive terms in office....
.
Illinois state government
While at the private law firm Kirkland & EllisKirkland & Ellis
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is an international law firm with headquarters in Chicago, known for its profitability and its litigation, bankruptcy, intellectual property and private equity departments. Kirkland & Ellis is currently ranked as the ninth most prestigious law firm in the United States by...
, Krishnamoorthi was appointed by Illinois Attorney General
Illinois Attorney General
The Illinois Attorney General is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by election through universal suffrage...
Lisa Madigan
Lisa Madigan
Lisa Madigan has been the 41st Attorney General of the US state of Illinois since 2003, when she became the first female attorney general for Illinois...
as a Special Assistant Attorney General to help start the anti-corruption Public Integrity Unit. He also served on the board of the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), becoming chair of its Audit Committee. The IHDA is charged with helping low- and moderate-income Illinoisans find affordable housing.
On September 12, 2007, Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias
Alexi Giannoulias
Alexander "Alexi" Giannoulias is an American politician who served as Illinois Treasurer from 2007 to 2011. A Democrat, Giannoulias defeated Republican candidate State Senator Christine Radogno in November 2006 with 54 percent of the vote, becoming the first Democrat to hold the office in 12...
appointed Krishnamoorthi his Deputy Treasurer for Policy and Programs, making Krishnamoorthi one of the highest-ranking Indian American
Indian American
Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestral roots lie in India. The U.S. Census Bureau popularized the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Indigenous peoples of the Americas who are commonly referred to as American Indians.-The term: Indian:...
s to serve the State of Illinois. As Deputy Treasurer, Krishnamoorthi was responsible for overseeing programs in the Illinois Treasurer's Office involving the custody and administration of billions of dollars in state funds. He also helped the Illinois Treasurer's Office administer ethics and transparency rules.
Illinois Comptroller race
In April 2009, Krishnamoorthi resigned from his position as Deputy Treasurer of Illinois and opened a campaign exploratory committeeExploratory Committee
In the election politics of the United States, an exploratory committee is an organization established to help determine whether a potential candidate should run for an elected office. They are most often cited in reference to United States Presidential hopefuls, prior to the primaries.Exploratory...
for Illinois Comptroller. During his bid to be the first Asian-American to be elected to statewide office in Illinois, his campaign broke fundraising records for the primary election for the Comptroller's race, garnered endorsements from more than 100 elected and community leaders from Illinois, launched a statewide television advertisement, and earned the endorsement of both major Chicago newspapers, the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, and the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
. In the election, Krishnamoorthi won over 380,000 votes, coming within 1 percent of winning the Democractic nomination for Comptroller (unofficial results). As a result, he was among a list of candidates considered for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
The Lieutenant Governor of Illinois is the second highest executive of the State of Illinois. In Illinois, the lieutenant governor and governor run on a joint ticket, and are directly elected by popular vote. Candidates for lieutenant governor run separately in the primary from candidates for...
, after the primary winner Scott Lee Cohen
Scott Lee Cohen
Scott Lee Cohen is an American politician and businessman who won the Democratic Party's 2010 nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, then withdrew under pressure shortly after the primary following revelations about his personal life and questions about his background...
stepped down from the nomination due to a domestic abuse scandal.
2012 Congressional Bid
Krishnamoorthi is currently a Democratic candidate for United States Congress in Illinois's Eighth Congressional District, which includes the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago where Krishnamoorthi lives in Hoffman Estates. The seat is currently held by freshman Republican Congressman Joe Walsh (Illinois politician)Joe Walsh (Illinois politician)
William Joseph "Joe" Walsh is the Republican U.S. Representative for Chicago, Illinois's northwest suburban . He has served in Congress since January 2011 after defeating three-term incumbent Democrat Melissa Bean by a margin of 291 votes in a surprising upset. He received little Republican Party...
.
Current Activity
Krishnamoorthi was named President of Sivananthan Laboratories in Bolingbrook, IllinoisBolingbrook, Illinois
Bolingbrook is a large village in Will and DuPage Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2010 US Census, the population is 73,366...
.