Sikhs in this country are still seeking greater involvement in public politics. It is a different journey than that of our Sikh neighbors to the north in Canada, who have been able to leverage their greater proportion of the population and size of their Sikh communities to garner seats at provincial and federal levels.

However, whereas in Canada, Sikh candidates can quite often contest on a platform espousing Sikh-specific issues (and political parties of all stripes court that vote), this strategy is not possible in the United States where our population proportion in most constituencies dictates that election platforms be based on more general issues.

In a previous post, I wrote about several Sikhs (who, by coincidence, were all from California) contesting elections at the state or federal levels in the United States in this year’s election cycle. I also briefly referenced Dalip Singh Saund, who was the first and only Sikh to have served in US Congress.  I’ve come across another Sikh from California who is attempting to follow in Dalip Singh’s footsteps and be elected to the House of Representatives:

Jack Uppal, a second-generation American and engineer by profession, is running in California’s 4th Congressional District in the northeast portion of the state that reaches as far down as Sacramento. As a candidate for the Democratic Party, Uppal is challenging incumbent Tom McClintock (R).

I would welcome any information about other Sikhs across the country who are contesting municipal, state or federal elections.