Freshman state senator says he wants to ‘be part of the solution’
Growing up, Suhas Subramanyam never imagined a life in politics. His immigrant parents were not only staunchly apolitical but had seen too much government corruption in India to think it a “noble profession.”
But all that changed in the summer of 2005. Subramanyam was a sophomore at Tulane University in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit, devastating large swaths of the city and leaving whole neighborhoods submerged in brown, stagnant floodwater. He threw himself into the rebuilding effort, gutting and refurbishing flood-damaged houses. And the more he worked in the ruined city, he recalled in a recent interview, the more incensed he became by the government’s inadequate response.
“I was just so disappointed in our system at that very moment,” Subramanyam said. “That people can’t even come back to their own homes after a storm like this. That injustice and that unfairness has always motivated me.” For him, it drove home the fact that, “if you don’t get involved in policymaking and politics, you can’t make the impact that the community needs to grow and be successful.”
That catalyzing event launched Subramanyam. Following his college graduation, he started out as a volunteer Democratic Party activist. Then he worked as a congressional aide. He went to law school at Northwestern in Chicago, in part so he could volunteer at Barack Obama’s reelection campaign headquarters. Eventually, he became a technology policy advisor in the Obama White House. In 2019, he won a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates representing parts of Loudoun and Prince William counties. Last November, with three legislative sessions under his belt, Subramanyam was elected to the state Senate.
And now, he is running for Congress.
“I love being a state legislator, and the work will go on. But I think I can make an even bigger impact at the federal level. So that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to do this. There are some really tough fights at the federal level,” said Subramnyam, 37.
Throughout this meteoric political career, Subramanyam said he has been driven by an ambition to tackle the toughest issues.
In running for office, “I didn’t want to just go with the flow,” Subramanyam said. “I wanted to see what the real problems were — whether they’re systemic or otherwise — and I wanted to tackle those head on because there were lots of other legislators that were tackling the problems that were easy to fix.”
“Even if it gets me in political trouble,” he continued, “to me, it’s a worthy fight to try to protect people who don’t have a voice and try to stand up for a community when there’s systemic issues.”
‘I was persistent’
In his two terms as delegate, Subramanyam has scored some noteworthy successes, including introducing and shepherding a 2020 bill that led to Dominion Energy paying $330 million in refunds to customers after the utility was discovered to be overcharging for its service.
For the then-freshman delegate, it was a daunting task. “I’d go into a senator’s room” to advocate the bill, Subramanyam said, and “there would be five or six lobbyists on the other side.” Dominion had given “real hard cash to the campaigns of many of these people,” he added. “But I was persistent.”
Subramanyam was also behind a 2021 bill that restricted toll increases on the Dulles Greenway, requiring the toll authority to prove that any proposed toll increase is reasonable for drivers, will not discourage too many from using the roadway and does not lead to an excessive amount of profit. It also prohibited the State Corporation Commission from approving multi-year toll increases.
“If you’re not going to tackle the hardest problems, what’s the point?” he said.
Former state Sen. John Bell, an early backer of Subramanyam, remembered being “greatly impressed” by Subramanyam’s “knowledge, presence and enthusiasm.”
“I encouraged him to run for office because I firmly believe that individuals like him are needed to serve our community for its betterment,” said Bell, whom Subramanyam described as a “mentor.”
To get things done, Subramanyam has had to be pragmatic, earning a reputation for working across the aisle. In 2021, he founded the Commonwealth Caucus, aimed at fostering bipartisanship within the General Assembly.
“I was trying to find legislators that were independent minded enough and brave enough to be able to step up and go across the aisle when it was necessary,” Subramanyam said of forming the caucus. “I think in the end, if we all work together, we’re going to make a bigger impact.”
“Suhas is an incredible person,” said Dawn Adams, a former Democratic delegate and member of the Commonwealth Caucus. “He’s smart, he’s got a good head on his shoulders, he’s calm, and he’s interested in solid policy and bipartisan relationships, which is kind of out of vogue right now, but I think is really important.”
Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, another member of the caucus, called Subramanyam “extraordinarily thoughtful and solutions-oriented.”
‘We want to make our mark’
An unexpected turn of events led Subramanyam to the Senate. It was in early 2023, while down in Richmond for the legislative session, when Bell, who then represented eastern Loudoun in the state Senate, called Subramanyam and other members of the Loudoun delegation into a room at the state Capitol.
Bell had been diagnosed with cancer, was considering retirement and suggested Subramanyam run to replace him in the Senate.
“I couldn’t say no,” Subramanyam said.
“I specifically asked Suhas to consider running because of his track record as a good public servant,” Bell said in an email to the Times-Mirror. “I have confidence that the district would be in good hands under his leadership and decision-making skills.”
Going into his inaugural term as a state Senator, Subramanyam said he wants to focus, in part, on unfinished business, including addressing the high cost of prescription drugs.
Prior to the 2024 session, Subramanyam filed several bills, including legislation that would put new requirements on data centers to use renewable energy, further regulate tolls on the Greenway and include ethnicity in Virginia hate crime law.
An advocate for stronger gun regulation, Subramanyam is also sponsoring a bill that would introduce waiting periods for firearm purchases. He acknowledged that such legislation is unlikely to get past Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
“It’s the right thing to do. And it’s something that will prevent deaths,” Subramanyam said about the bill. “I don’t know if this governor will support that. Probably not. But it doesn’t matter. We have to put it on his desk and see what he does.”
“There is a Republican governor that doesn’t see eye to eye on some really critical issues. So, I think as a Democratic caucus, we will need to stay unified. That’s something that maybe didn’t happen as much last time,” he said referring to 2020 and 2021, when his party held both the statehouse and the governor’s mansion. “Just because the governor doesn’t like it, we shouldn’t be afraid to bring it before him and pass it out of the General Assembly.”
Speaking to the Times-Mirror before the General Assembly session began, Subramanyam said that he would support a constitutional amendment on reproductive rights. “That way we don’t have to keep debating whether these rights exist,” he said. (The Associated Press reported Jan. 16 that the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee moved to postpone a vote on proposed amendment until next year.)
Subramanyam maintained that his congressional campaign won’t impact his work as a legislator. He said he will be stepping down from his job running a consulting firm to focus on governing and campaigning full-time.
“The amount of time I’m spending as a legislator is probably more now” than ever, Subramanyam said. “I’m taking on more committees and more responsibilities, so, rest assured, the work will continue. And in fact, it will probably increase.”
Bell, the former senator, is less than enthusiastic about Subramanyam’s run for Congress. “I would prefer he stay in the Senate for awhile, but I also understand opportunities to run for an open congressional seat don’t come up very often,” he said. Bell has been quoted in the Washington Post supporting another candidate for the open congressional seat.
Subramanyam, however, disagreed. “People across Virginia’s 10th Congressional District have told me we need a candidate like me: someone who has fought the tough fights and won, someone who is known in Loudoun and Prince William, and someone who has delivered results on gun violence prevention, reproductive rights, fighting MAGA extremism, lowering tolls, and holding data centers accountable.”
Subramanyam also reflects the increasing diversity of Northern Virginia, and Loudoun County in particular. Once largely white, the county now boasts a significant South Asian population.
Subramanyam has spoken at length about how his immigrant background has shaped his approach to public service. Born in Houston to two doctors who had emigrated from Bengaluru, India, his parents emphasized the value of education and public service.
Since moving to Loudoun, Subramanyam has served as a volunteer EMT and firefighter. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was a volunteer COVID tester with the Loudoun Medical Reserve Corps. He lives in Brambleton with his wife, also an attorney, and two young daughters.
“When my parents came, it was like, ‘we just want to make it,’” Subramanyam told the New York Times in 2020. “But the second generation, we want to make our mark on the world. I wanted to do more than just work at a law firm and make money. I feel very patriotic about America.”