Shekhar Sinha
Shekhar Sinha (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 121. He lost in the Democratic primary on March 5, 2024.
Sinha completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Shekhar Sinha earned a bachelor's degree from Patna University in 1976, a graduate degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1989, and a graduate degree from Indiana University in 2009. His career experience includes volunteering for the Democratic Party and serving as a precinct coordinator. Sinha also worked in the Information Technology industry and served in the Indian Railways Service of Mechanical Engineers and the Indian Police Service. Sinha has been affiliated with the Bexar County Democrats and Northeast Bexar County Democrats.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 121
Laurel Jordan Swift and Marc LaHood are running in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 121 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Laurel Jordan Swift (D)  | |
 | Marc LaHood (R) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 121
Laurel Jordan Swift defeated Shekhar Sinha in the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 121 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Laurel Jordan Swift | 72.9 | 6,066 |
 | Shekhar Sinha | 27.1 | 2,257 | |
| Total votes: 8,323 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 121
Marc LaHood defeated incumbent Steve Allison and Michael Champion in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 121 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Marc LaHood | 53.9 | 11,695 |
| Steve Allison | 38.9 | 8,441 | |
 | Michael Champion | 7.2 | 1,553 | |
| Total votes: 21,689 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
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Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Shekhar Sinha completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Sinha's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am an immigrant from India, who came to USA in the mid-80s as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, along with my wife and two toddler children. I graduated 3 years later with dual masters in Math and Computer Science from Penn State University. Those initial 3 years were quite tough as the joke and reality was that teaching assistants with families survived on stipend that was under the poverty line.
Earlier, I had competed and served in two prestigious services in India. As a Special Class Railway Apprentice, I earned bachelor’s degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering, and then served briefly in the Indian Railways Service of Mechanical Engineers. Later, I served briefly in the Indian Police Service. I also have a Bachelor's degree in Science from Patna Unversity, India.
After graduating from Penn State, I worked in the IT industry for 3 decades in management and technical positions. On the way, I got an MBA and an MS from Indiana University, as a part time student while working full time at Grainger, IL.
- Women's reproductive rights should be protected by codifying Roe v Wade into law.
- Gun violence is the leading cause of death of children in America. Many adults have also lost their lives in frequent mass shootings. I support common sense gun safety reforms proposed by President Biden.
- As advised by the non-partisan group Represent.US, I support making voting easier, ending gerrymandering, and giving a 50$ tax voucher to each voter to donate to political campaigns and ending the influence of mega donors.
1. The future of our public schools and over 90% of Texas kids attending them are at stake with the governor pushing for vouchers, which I oppose as they will benefit private schools at the expense of public schools. Our teachers’ pay lags the national average. According to a recent CNBC survey about the best states to do business, Texas dropped to No. 35 for Education and its per student spending is among the lowest. I will work to reverse this trend.
2. This CNBC survey ranked Texas last for Life, Health and Inclusion. Texas has the highest percentage of residents without health insurance. Yet, Republicans have opposed expanding Medicaid even though Federal government will bear most of the cost. I will work to expand such programs to alleviate poverty.
3. This CNBC survey ranked our electrical grid as the third worst in the country. Our deregulated electricity market is dominated by special interests. I will press for the Texas electricity grid to also join the national grid and be reliable like El Paso’s, which didn’t have outages during the February 21 freeze.The power outages during that week caused the death of over 200 Texans.
4. Our public universities need to be affordable. Yet, their average tuition fees doubled in the 15 years since 2003, while state appropriations declined by 26%. I will work to reverse this trend.
5. I trust scientists on climate change. I will work to facilitate the transition to clean energy by 2050 and protect the environment.
I look up to Mahatma Gandhi and would like to follow his example. He set a great example of leveraging non-violent protests and civic disobedience to achieve Indian independence from British rule. His example was later emulated by Nelson Mandela to achieve the end of apartheid in South Africa and by Dr. Martin Luther King to achieve progress with civil rights in USA. Albert Einstein said about Gandhi, "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth."
There is a lot of strife and conflict in the world, which can be resolved through non-violence and peaceful means that Mahatma Gandhi preached and practiced.
I strongly recommend watching the interesting and informative documentary "Inequality For All" narrated by Former Labor Secretary and Professor Robert Reich. He celebrated its tenth anniversary in September. The issues that he discusses regarding the political, social, and economic impact of widening wealth and income inequality are even more relevant now and guides my political philosophy.
Honesty, integrity and commitment to serve the common good.
I believe that with my master's degrees in Math and Computer Science from Penn State University and an MBA and MS in Global Supply Chain Management from Indiana University, along with my B.Sc. and bachelor's degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering from India, I have the educational background to understand the intricacies of the issues coming before a Texas Legislator. Similarly, my diverse work experience in the Indian Railways, Indian Police Service followed by three decades in the Information Technology industry here give me the background to be a successful State Representative.
According to house.texas.gov article about functions of Texas House of Representatives, "The duties of the legislature include consideration of proposed laws and resolutions, consideration of proposed constitutional amendments for submission to the voters, and appropriation of all funds for the operation of state government. All bills for raising revenue considered by the legislature must originate in the house of representatives. The house alone can bring impeachment charges against a statewide officer, which charges must be tried by the senate."
I believe that someone elected to this office should perform these functions with honesty, integrity and the achievement of common good as the objective.
The legacy that I would like to leave is to successfully address the major challenges facing Texas that I have listed above.
The first historical event that I remember was about the Chinese invasion and war against India in 1962 when I was 9 years old and lived in India. The war had a deep impact on Indian society as there was a surge in getting better prepared for civil defense.
My first job was as a Special Class Railway Apprentice in India. I successfully completed the four-year apprenticeship program, earned bachelor's degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering, and then worked briefly in the Indian Railways Service of Mechanical Engineers.
My favorite book is the Animal Farm by George Orwell. The author attempts to reveal how those in power abuse it to subvert the democratic promise of a revolution. A proclamation by the pigs in power in this fictional story states, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Though it was supposed to be directed against communism, it is also relevant to democracies where the governments promise equality to all citizens but give power and control to a small elite. You can see some of that in USA too where after the Citizens United decision by Supreme Court in 2010, there is no limit on campaign contributions by corporations and billionaires, who then use their influence to get laws passed to serve the interests of the small elite rather than the common good. This has contributed to the growing wealth and income inequality here, as articulated very well by the Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich in several articles.
It is a Hindi song addressed to children that is very relevant amidst the violent conflicts and wars around the world. It is "Pyar ki raah dikha duniya ko" and means:
"Show the way of love to the world, that can stop this storm of hatred,
One of you will be the next Gautam Buddha, one of you will be the next Gandhi ..."
The ideal relationship between the governor, as the head of the executive branch, and the state legislature should be based on cooperation and mutual respect for each other’s constitutional powers and responsibilities to serve the common good.
The greatest challenges that face Texas over the next decade are as follows:
1. The infrastructure needs to grow to accommodate the population growth expected in an environmentally sound way. This would include expanding roads, affordable housing, mass transit, high speed rail, securing water supply, expanding energy grid and so on.
2. The future of our public schools and over 90% of Texas kids attending them are at stake with the governor pushing for vouchers, which I oppose as they will benefit private schools at the expense of public schools. Our teachers’ pay lags the national average. According to a recent CNBC survey about the best states to do business, Texas dropped to No. 35 for Education and its per student spending is among the lowest.
3. Women’s reproductive rights should be protected by codifying Roe v Wade. Period.
4. Another factor that led this CNBC survey to rank Texas last for Life, Health and Inclusion is that the state has the highest percentage of residents without health insurance. Yet, Republicans have opposed expanding Medicaid even though Federal government will bear most of the cost. There is need to expand these federal programs to alleviate poverty.
5. Gun violence is the leading cause of death of children in America. Many adults have also lost their lives in frequent mass shootings. There is need to adopt common sense gun safety, as proposed by President Biden.
6. Our public universities need to be affordable. Yet, their average tuition fee doubled in the 15 years since 2003.
7. Voting rights have been eroded in Texas. As advised by the non-partisan group Represent.US, there is need to make voting and voter registration easier, end gerrymandering, and campaign finance reforms.
8. Tackling climate change and protecting the environment through win-win solutions will be a challenge.
9. This CNBC survey ranked our electrical grid as the third worst in the country, which needs to be fixed.
No. On the contrary, I believe in term limits and attracting people with diverse backgrounds to serve the common good by bringing fresh perspectives in government. I believe that there are too many career politicians in public office, which needs to end through term limits.
Absolutely. It is beneficial to build relationships with other legislators irrespective of party affiliations, as many a times a compromise is needed to achieve a solution that serves the common good.
I want to model myself after President Lyndon Johnson, who was a great legislator from Texas in Congress with several legislative accomplishments to his credit that served the common good. He continued to build on that as President by encouraging legislations to support voting rights, civil rights and creation of Medicare and Medicaid to list a few.
At present, I am focused on winning the election for State Representative for HD 121 and serving the needs of the voters in this district to the best of my abilities if elected.
I found a story about President Lyndon Johnson very touching and memorable. He grew up in poverty and had a lot of empathy for the poor. According to Wikipedia, “When he returned to San Marcos in 1965, after signing the Higher Education Act of 1965, Johnson reminisced:
“I shall never forget the faces of the boys and the girls in that little Welhausen Mexican School, and I remember even yet the pain of realizing and knowing then that college was closed to practically every one of those children because they were too poor. And I think it was then that I made up my mind that this nation could never rest while the door to knowledge remained closed to any American.”
This is why good public schools and affordable public colleges are needed to serve the common good.
There should be effective legislative oversight over the use of emergency powers by the Governor, who typically invokes it to deal with an emergency situation quickly.
Absolutely. Compromise is necessary and desirable for policymaking, provided the solution, which may not be perfect, serves the common good. At times, progress on contentious issues can only be achieved incrementally through compromise.
The first bill that I will introduce is to protect women’s reproductive rights and codify Roe v Wade. A woman should not have to go out of state or go to the courts for permission to get the healthcare needed, as happened recently in the Kate Cox case. This is one of the factors that led to Texas coming last in above CNBC survey for Life, Health and Inclusion as it has one of the strictest abortion laws.
Public Health and Public Education.
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Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on December 20, 2023
