Editor’s note: State Affairs spoke with the four Gen Z candidates running for the state Legislature in November as part of our “On the Campaign Trail” series. They discussed their campaigns and what they plan to do if elected. This profile looks at Senate District 48 candidate Ashwin Ramaswami. To read the main story for this series, go here.

Raising money is a big challenge for most candidates, but Ashwin Ramaswami has raised over $700,000 from 6,000 donors, far outpacing Sen. Shawn Still, R-Norcross, his Senate District 48 opponent. 

“I don’t take any money from corporate PACs because I believe individuals should have the highest say in our government, not these giant globs of money,” said Ramaswami, who is running in a district that covers parts of three north metro Atlanta counties: Johns Creek, Sugar Hill in Gwinnett County and south Forsyth County.

Ramaswami, 25, is one of four Generation Z candidates running for office on the November ballot. The others are: Atlanta middle school teacher Bryce Berry, 23; community organizer Gabriel Sanchez, 27; and Madeline Ryan Smith, a 27-year-old Statesboro entrepreneur. All are on the Democratic ticket. Candidates must be at least 21 years old to serve in the state House and 25 years old to serve in the state Senate.

Ramaswami said he and his staff rely on good old-fashioned canvassing to reach potential voters. 

“Of course, they’re not always available and may not be at home, which is why we have to rely on other methods,” said Ramaswami, a software engineer and small business owner. “But it’s an entire multimodal machine in terms of connecting people. My district has a lot of people — like 90,000 people.”

If elected, Ramaswami said he would make the following changes:

• Pass gun safety legislation.
• Restore abortion rights.
• “Inspire other people like me to run for office.” If Ramasami wins, he’ll be the first Indian American and Hindu American and the first Gen Z state senator in the Georgia Legislature.

Ramaswami is a 2021 graduate of Stanford University, where he earned a degree in computer science. In May, he received a law degree in technology law and policy from Georgetown University Law Center.

Ramaswami said he was inspired to run for office when he worked as a software engineer in the Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations, where he built a tool that detects vulnerabilities in election websites. 

“I was working with Democrats and Republicans, state and local officials who were just trying to do the job. It didn’t matter who won the election. They just wanted to make sure votes were counted,” said Ramaswami, who has worked with election offices across the country. “I had a front row seat to Trump’s lies in 2020.” 

The idea to run for office crystallized for him when he “started to realize that our current state senator not only was not focusing on the issues that mattered [but also] demonstrated through his conduct that he was unfit for office. Someone has to stand up to him,” Ramaswami said.

His opponent, Still, was one of 18 people indicted along with former President Donald Trump in Fulton County last year for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.

As for Ramaswami, his platform centers on investing in the future.

“First, we have to have safe and healthy communities,” he said. “That includes things like gun safety laws, protecting access for reproductive health care and investing in education. The other piece of this is making sure we continue to be a hub for entrepreneurship by investing in technology. Those are the two pillars of my candidacy.”

Ramaswami has raised over $780,000 and has more than $270,000 in cash on hand, outpacing Still, who has raised nearly $300,000 and has just over $80,000 in cash on hand.

See Ramaswami’s campaign website here.

Have questions? Contact Tammy Joyner on X @lvjoyner or at [email protected].