Carolyn Maloney (
)
For 18 years, Democrat Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney has represented the city’s “Silk Stocking District” — Manhattan’s East Side, as well as Long Island City and Astoria in Queens.
Judging by the most recent polls, that doesn’t seem likely to change this November.
But Maloney’s opponent in the Democratic primary next month, 35-year-old Reshma Saujani, is generating an unusual amount of interest for an untested candidate polling at 7% against a scandal-free incumbent with an 86% approval rating.
Saujani, who has never served in public office, has become a darling among the city’s power brokers, including Maureen White, former national finance chair for the Democratic Party; Judith Dimon, wife of JPMorgan CEO Jamie; hedge fund billionaire Marc Lasry; and Mayor Bloomberg’s daughter, Emma — all of whom have helped her amass a $1.2 million war chest.
Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand may be firmly in Maloney’s camp, but Hillary Clinton, for whom Saujani once worked, gave her campaign an unofficial nod of approval.
Mayor Bloomberg’s girlfriend, Diana Taylor, is even advising Saujani’s campaign after meeting her and being impressed with her go-getter attitude.
Saujani also has developed a cult following among the city’s burgeoning tech community, with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, Facebook honcho Randi Zuckerberg and Gilt Groupe founder Alexis Maybank all tweeting her praises. High profile bloggers like Rachelle Hruska have helped generate buzz among the 20- and 30-something crowd that usually doesn’t follow local politics.
So who is Saujani, and why all the fuss?
A graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and then Yale Law School, she grew up in Chicago, after her parents, ethnic Indians living in Uganda, fled the regime of Idi Amin in the 1970s. A practicing Hindu, she lives in an East Village rental, and is still paying off some $200,000 in student loan debts after putting herself through school. She works out at Equinox so that she can afford to cave to her favorite temptation: the black and white shake from Shake Shack.
Saujani says she always planned to run for office, but started behind the scenes. She worked as an intern in the Clinton White House and then as a fundraiser for John Kerry in 2004, helping him raise $1 million from South Asians.
“At age 28 I was one of John Kerry’s top fundraisers in the country,” Saujani said in an interview from her makeshift campaign office on 33rd Street and Madison Avenue. “It’s unusual for a young woman to be sitting with trustees who had been donors for generations. I had never asked anyone for a check before besides my parents.” In 2008, she worked as a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Saujani eventually made her way to Wall Street, starting an investment fund for a company partially owned by Democratic fundraiser Hassan Nemazee, who was charged with bank fraud last year. She moved on to a fund started by the Carlyle Group and most recently worked for the Fortress Investment Group until quitting to mount her campaign for Congress.
As a candidate, Saujani likes to stack up firsts. She’d be the youngest woman elected to Congress if she wins, as well as the first Hindu. She claims she was the first New York politician to come out strongly in favor of the Ground Zero mosque — weeks before Bloomberg did, she’s quick to point out.
The main pillar of Saujani’s campaign is about transforming New York City into Silicon Valley. And it’s when she talks about tech that she becomes most engaged.
“When I set out to run, one out of three of my friends was unemployed, laid off from law firms or media firms, and it wasn’t going to get better until 2013,” she said. “I believe people need to start their own companies. I’ve gone to tech meet-up after tech meet-up and asked people, ‘What is it that you need to start your next company?’ It’s that first $50,000 or $100,000 they need.”
The candidate is light on specifics, however. When asked what the government can do about an out-of-work construction worker in their 50s, she said, “We help them take a course at community college to learn how to do solar panel installation and get a better paying job.” And who would foot the bill? “You should be able to get a loan from the Department of Labor to do that.”
While its Saujani’s youth and tech savvy that has energized young supporters, critics say it’s her Wall Street experience that has attracted some backers.
Maloney, an Upper East Side resident for the past 40 years, is chairwoman of the Joint Economic Committee and sits on the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Her dogged determination helped her secure $200 million in funding for the Second Avenue subway last year. She has also been a vocal critic of Wall Street and a backer of Obama’s financial regulation bill.
Perhaps some hedge funders are looking for a friendlier face in Saujani?
“She’s been honest about the fact that until we diversify our economy, Wall Street makes up one-third of our tax revenue and we’ll need to engage the private sector to create jobs in New York City,” said campaign spokesman James Allen. “That doesn’t mean she doesn’t want strict regulation of the industry.”
Until now Maloney had no particular reason to acknowledge Saujani’s campaign, but after three months of nipping at her heels, Maloney agreed to a radio debate scheduled to air Sept. 7 on WWRL at 11 a.m.
Asked if she felt threatened by Saujani, a spokeswoman said: “Carolyn takes every election seriously. With more than 300 volunteers and interns, Carolyn has a grassroots operation that is taking her record for fighting for New Yorkers directly to the voters.”
It’s going to be an uphill climb for Saujani, even with her powerful friends, but she insists that this campaign isn’t about the next one. “There are more benign ways to increase name recognition than this one,” she said. “You don’t expend that political capital for name recognition. You do it to win.”
The poll mentioned in the beginning of this story was commissioned by Rep. Carolyn Maloney in April