It was the name that people got stuck on. Suhas Subramanyam. Six syllables. “Foreign” sounding, perhaps to some. Hard to pronounce (although it really isn’t).
“People had told me to change my name when I was first starting to run. They said someone with my name wouldn’t be electable,” Subramanyam recalled. “I still get that a lot.”
But this Brambleton resident did run – and he won. First a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, then the Virginia Senate, and now as the first Ashburn resident ever elected to the United States Congress representing Virginia’s 10th District.
And he did it with his name intact.
“I just wanted to stay true to myself,” he said. “I thought I’d rather lose as Suhas Subramanyam then win as someone I’m not.”
Ashburn Magazine sat down for an interview with Subramanyam to discuss what brought him to Ashburn, his political career and recent election to Congress, and what his priorities are going forward. Click here to read the Q&A with Rep. Subramanyam.
(Image at top: Astri Wee Photography)