Padma Kuppa | |
---|---|
Member of the MichiganHouseofRepresentatives from the 41st district | |
In office January 1, 2019 –December 31, 2022 | |
Preceded by | Martin Howrylak |
Succeeded by | Julie Rogers |
Personal details | |
Born | Padma Kuppa August 10,1965 Bhilai,India |
Nationality | American |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Sudhakar Tadepalli |
Children | 2 |
Residence | Troy,Michigan |
Alma mater | National Institute of Technology,Warangal (1988) |
Occupation | Mechanical engineer |
Website | Campaign website |
Padma Kuppa (born August 10,1965) was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from the 41st House District,which encompasses the cities of Troy and Clawson,from 2019 to 2022. She was the first Asian immigrant and Hindu to serve in the Michigan Legislature.
Kuppa is a mechanical engineer by trade and a community organizer. She has served as President of the Troy Historical Society,which oversees the Troy Historic Village,and is a founding member of the Troy-area Interfaith Group. She is tri-lingual in English,Hindi,and Telugu.
In 2022,Kuppa unsuccessfully ran for the Michigan Senate in the new 9th Senate District following the decennial redistricting process.
Kuppa was born on August 10,1965,in Bhilai,India. [1] In 1969,her father began attending Stony Brook University on Long Island,New York,as a graduate student,and later became a post-doctoral fellow. Her mother also went back to school and eventually earned a PhD in biology from Stony Brook and was a post-doctoral fellow at MIT and Georgetown University. [2] [3]
In 1970,during her parents' studies in the United States,Kuppa and her family moved to Long Island where she began attending kindergarten. [4] When she was 15 years old,Kuppa and her family returned to India,unlike most immigrants of the era. Kuppa recalled of her parents' decision:"That move was very difficult. I did not think or behave as an Indian. I was Indian on the outside and American on the inside." [2] She has also said of this time in her life,"I didn't feel at home. I had an American accent,I had an American attitude. And so I think that it wasn't just the best age to move,to shift cultures." [3]
Returning to India with her family in 1981,Kuppa finished high school at Stanley Girls High School and later graduated from Regional Engineering College Warangal (now National Institute of Technology,Warangal). Kuppa was the first woman to earn a degree in mechanical engineering from the university. [4] [5]
In 1988,Kuppa returned to the United States to attend graduate school at Stony Brook University,her parents' alma mater,as a foreign student. In 1998,Kuppa and her husband moved to Troy,Michigan. [3] [4]
Kuppa is a founding member of the Troy-area Interfaith Group,as well as the local Bharatiya Temple's Outreach Committee. She has served as a board member and advisory board member of the Women's Interfaith Solutions for Dialogue and Outreach in Detroit (WISDOM). She became board president of the Troy Historical Society,which oversees the Troy Historic Village,in October 2018. [1] [4]
Kuppa worked with Chrysler as a mechanical engineer and project manager for over five years. She later worked as a business analyst at Ally Financial. [6] Kuppa served on the City of Troy's Planning Commission from 2015 to 2018,having been appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council. She was later elected to serve on the city's Zoning Board of Appeals from 2017 to 2018. [1] [7]
In 2018,Kuppa was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives. She assumed office in 2019 for the 100th Michigan Legislature,representing House District 41,which encompasses the cities of Troy and Clawson. A Democrat,Kuppa defeated Republican Doug Tietz in the general election,earning 51.3 percent of the vote versus 48.7 percent for Tietz. Kuppa's predecessor,term-limited Republican Martin Howrylak,attended her swearing-in ceremony. [7] [8] During her first term,Kuppa was named Assistant Whip for her caucus. [9] [10] She was also selected to serve on the Energy Committee and the Local Government and Municipal Finance Committee. [11]
In 2020,Kuppa won re-election against Republican Andrew Sosnoski in the general election. She earned 55.04 percent of the vote to Sosnoski's 44.96 percent. [12] For the 101st Michigan Legislature during her second term,Kuppa was selected to serve on the Tax Policy Committee and Rules and Competitiveness Committee,in addition to returning to serve on the Local Government and Municipal Finance Committee. She was also selected to serve as an alternate member for the Michigan Legislative Council. [11] In 2021,Kuppa received the Michigan United Cerebral Palsy Public Policy Award for her work with the disability and business communities. [13]
In 2022,Kuppa unsuccessfully ran for the Michigan Senate in the new 9th Senate District following the decennial redistricting process. [14]
Kuppa resides in Troy,Michigan,with her husband,Sudhakar Tadepalli. They have two children. [1]
Kuppa is Hindu and a member of the Bharatiya Temple of Metropolitan Detroit. [1] She is multi-lingual and speaks English,Hindi,and Telugu; [3] the latter of which is the most spoken minority language in the district that Kuppa represents. [15]
Troy is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Detroit,Troy is located about 22 miles (35 km) north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census,the city had a population of 87,294,making Troy the largest community in Oakland County,and the 13th-most-populous municipality in the state.
Sander Martin Levin is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2019,representing Michigan's 9th congressional district. Levin,a member of the Democratic Party from Michigan,is a former ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee;he was Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee from 2010 to 2011. He was the older brother of former U.S. Senator Carl Levin,and is the father of former Congressman Andy Levin,his successor.
The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members,each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents,based on population figures from the 2020 U.S. census. Its composition,powers and duties are established in Article IV of the Michigan Constitution.
Alice Constandina "Dina" Titus is an American political scientist and politician who has been the United States representative for Nevada's 1st congressional district since 2013. She served as the U.S. representative for Nevada's 3rd congressional district from 2009 to 2011,when she was defeated by Joe Heck. Titus is a member of the Democratic Party. She served in the Nevada Senate and was its minority leader from 1993 to 2009. Before her election to Congress,Titus was a professor of political science at the University of Nevada,Las Vegas (UNLV),where she taught American and Nevada government for 30 years. She was the Democratic nominee for governor of Nevada in 2006.
Hansen Hashim Clarke is an American politician and former U.S. Congressman. A Democrat,he was the U.S. representative for Michigan's 13th congressional district from 2011 to 2013. Prior to his election to Congress,he had been a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 1991 through 1992 and from 1999 through 2002,and represented the 1st district in the Michigan Senate from 2003 to 2011. Clarke was also the first U.S. Congressman of Bangladeshi descent.
Harriette L. Chandler is an American politician who was the 94th President of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts State Senator for the 1st Worcester district,which includes parts of the city of Worcester,where she resides,and the towns of Boylston,Holden,Princeton,and West Boylston,and parts of Clinton and Northborough. She is a Democrat who has served since January 2001. From 1995 to 2001 she was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Prior to serving in the Massachusetts legislature,she was a member of the Worcester school committee from 1991 to 1994. She is the first woman from Worcester ever to be elected to the Massachusetts Senate.
Stacy Erwin Oakes is a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. She has been a Democratic Party member of the Michigan House of Representatives and Minority Whip representing Michigan's 95th District,located in Saginaw County,which includes the cities of Saginaw and Zilwaukee,in addition to the following townships:Bridgeport Township,Buena Vista Township,Carrollton Township,James Township,Kochville Township,Spaulding Township,and Zilwaukee Township.
Troy E. Singleton is an American Democratic Party politician who has represented the 7th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate since January 9,2018. He served in the New Jersey General Assembly from November 21,2011 until he took office in the state senate.
Stephanie Gray Chang is a Taiwanese-American politician and a Democratic member of the Michigan Senate,representing the 3rd district. She previously served in the Michigan House of Representatives representing the 6th District.
Leslie N. Love is an American politician and government official. A member of the Democratic Party,Love served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2014 to 2020. Love represented the 10th District,which encompasses parts of northwest Detroit and Redford Township.
Jeremy Allen Moss is an American politician from Southfield,Michigan currently representing the 7th State Senate District,which includes all of Auburn Hills,Bloomfield Hills,Bloomfield Township,Lake Angelus,Lathrup Village,Pontiac,Southfield,and parts of Detroit,Southfield Township,and Waterford Township. A member of the Democratic Party,he is the first openly LGBT person elected to the Michigan Senate,as well as the first to serve as President Pro Tempore. Moss previously served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2014 - 2018,and remains the youngest-ever member of the Southfield City Council.
Jim Runestad is an American politician. A Republican,he has been a member of the Michigan State Senate,representing the 23rd district,since 2023. He was previously a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 2015 to 2018. In 2020,Runestad was one of 11 Republican state senators in Michigan who supported Donald Trump's effort to overturn the result of the presidential election and remain in power.
Carol A. Murphy is an American Democratic Party politician,who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since January 9,2018.
Sylvia Anjel Santana is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Michigan Senate,representing the 2nd district. She previously represented the 3rd district from 2019 to 2022. She also served in the Michigan House of Representatives from the 9th district from 2017 to 2019.
Mallory Ann McMorrow is an American politician who has served in the Michigan Senate since January 2019. She became senate majority whip on January 1,2023. A member of the Democratic Party,she represents the 8th district;before that,she represented 13th district from 2019 to 2023,the district included Berkley,Birmingham,Bloomfield Hills,Clawson,Rochester Hills,Royal Oak,and Troy,Michigan. Prior to running for the Michigan Senate,McMorrow worked in industrial design.
Stephanie Dawkins Davis is an American lawyer who is serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She previously served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and a former United States magistrate judge of the same court.
Angela Kaye Witwer is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Michigan House of Representatives,serving the 76th House District.
The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan were held on November 8,2022,to elect representatives for the thirteen seats in Michigan. The deadline for candidates to file for the August 2 primary was April 19. The congressional makeup prior to the election was seven Democrats and seven Republicans. However,after the 2020 census,Michigan lost one congressional seat. Democrats won a majority of seats in the state for the first time since 2008. This can be partly attributed to the decrease in the number of districts,which resulted in two Republican incumbents –Bill Huizenga and Fred Upton –in the new 4th district. Redistricting also played a part in shifting partisan lean of the districts which favored the Democrats overall,including in the 3rd district,which Democrats were able to flip with a margin of victory of 13 points. That was made possible by a non-partisan citizens' commission drawing the new political boundaries instead of the Michigan legislature after a 2018 ballot proposal was approved.
Casey Crabtree is an American politician serving as a member of the South Dakota Senate from the 8th district. Crabtree was appointed to office by Governor Kristi Noem on June 19,2020,succeeding Jordan Youngberg,who resigned to serve with the South Dakota State Treasurer.
An election was held on November 8,2022,to elect all 110 members to Michigan's House of Representatives. The election coincided with elections for other offices,including governor,State Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. Democrats won a majority of 56 out of 110 seats,winning control of the chamber for the first time since 2008.