Telangana-origin Republican Saritha Komatireddy invokes Usha Vance in New York Attorney General race​‌

Indian-American Republican Saritha Komatireddy, who is challenging New York Attorney General Letitia James, has argued that the Republican Party embraces diversity, citing Usha Vance as an example. A former federal prosecutor, Komatireddy is campaigning on a law-and-order platform and has raised over $1 million since her debate with James.

New York:  Saritha Komatireddy, the Indian-American Republican challenging New York Attorney General Letitia James, has pointed to Usha Vance, the Indian-American wife of Vice President J.D. Vance, as evidence that the Republican Party is comfortable with diversity, a media report said.

“I don’t think one party has a monopoly on diversity,” Komatireddy told The New York Times in a profile published on Monday, which described her as “the child of Indian immigrants” who calls herself “an immigrant kid” who believes in a meritocracy.

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The profile described Komatireddy, 42, as a long-shot challenger who is campaigning as a crime fighter and leaning on her record as a federal prosecutor.

According to The New York Times, Komatireddy’s campaign says it has raised more than $1 million since October 9, the day after her debate with James, enabling it to outspend the James campaign on television.

A Siena poll cited by the newspaper showed Komatireddy trailing James by 13 percentage points, 52 to 39, with more than 70 per cent of likely voters saying they had never heard of her.

An internal poll conducted for Komatireddy’s campaign by OnMessage from October 12 to 14 put James at 50.7 per cent and Komatireddy at 44.7 per cent, the New York Post reported. That survey was commissioned by the campaign.

On Monday, Komatireddy announced the endorsement of former New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira. “Proud to have the support of former New York Yankee Mark Teixeira, a World Series champion, three-time All-Star, and five-time Gold Glove winner who spent eight seasons in pinstripes,” Komatireddy wrote on X. “Mark knows that success takes hard work, discipline, and teamwork, and I’m honored to have him join our movement for a safer New York.”

The New York Times said Komatireddy wants to more than triple the number of attorneys prosecuting crime in the attorney general’s office, where fewer than 100 of about 700 attorneys are currently assigned to criminal cases.

Critics say the plan misreads the office’s role. “The enforcement powers of the office are fundamentally civil in nature,” Micah Lasher, a Democrat who backs James, told the newspaper.

Former New York Police commissioner Raymond W. Kelly backed the challenger. “It’s time for a change,” Kelly told The New York Times.

Richard Donoghue, the former US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Komatireddy’s former boss, called her the “go-to person in terms of our most complex and challenging cases.”

Komatireddy graduated from Harvard Law School, clerked for Brett M. Kavanaugh on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and served as a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York and as chief of staff of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

President Donald Trump nominated her as a federal judge in his first term, but she never took the bench.

The New York Times said Komatireddy has largely avoided invoking Trump and stated during the debate that Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

“Just like her top endorser Donald Trump, Saritha Komatireddy has no respect for the law and plays politics every single day,” a spokeswoman for the James campaign said in a statement quoted by the newspaper.

The election is on November 3.