Rano Singh

Rano Singh, 50, who is running on the Democratic ticket for the Arizona House of Delegates from District 6, received endorsements from Governor Janet Napolitano and Mayor Phil Gordon on Oct. 15.

“I have endorsed Rano Singh because she has a remarkable record of public service,” said Gov. Napolitano in a press release.

“Rano Singh’s independent, fair-minded cooperation and hard work have provided Arizona with vision and values...

“Rano Singh is the best-qualified candidate. Her experience as a former Arizona public school teacher, as a small business owner, her leadership, tireless energy, and ability to build collaboration and consensus, will give Legislative District 6 and Arizona the representation we need,” the release added.

Singh, a small business owner and a former Arizona public school teacher who qualified this April by getting more than 400 signatures and several organizational endorsements, told News India-Times that it was the murder of gas station owner Balbir Singh Sodhi on Sept. 15, 2001, that drove her into public service.

But the India-born Singh has an uphill battle against formidable Republican incumbents, Reps. Clancy Jayne and Ted Carpenter. Reps. Jayne, a one-term Assemblyman, and Carpenter, who is running for his third term, are facing two Republican challengers, before they go on to face Singh, the unopposed Democrat running from this conservative district in November.

“For me, it was definitely the 9/11 situation that propelled me to give service... for the future of the country, the future of our children,” Singh told News India-Times. “Our leadership here in Arizona was incredible and made sure hate crimes were stamped out immediately. I was very involved after his killing. He was our friend and was known to everyone in the community.” She served on then Attorney General Napolitano’s Hate Crimes Task Force, and has been a member of the Attorney General’s Asian American Community Justice Council. Born in India and brought up in London, U.K., Singh is the first Indian American to run for State office in Arizona. She has a bachelor of science in education with honors from Warwick University in England. She is president of the India Association of Phoenix.

She is also a member of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce International Committee, the Central Arizona Regional Science and Engineering Fair Advisory Board, and the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture Grant Review Committee. She has earlier been endorsed by the Arizona Education Association, the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, Asian Pacific Americans for Progress, and the Arizona League of Conservation of Voters.