In December 2023, at the age of 24, Ashwin Ramaswami ’21 launched his state senate campaign for Georgia’s 48th district. Ramaswami spoke to The Daily in February to explain what drove him to run for office and his goals if elected a Georgian state senator. 

If elected, Ramaswami, who studied computer science at Stanford and served as The Daily’s first Chief Technology Officer, would be the state’s first Indian-American state senator. Since announcing his candidacy, he’s raised nearly $900,000, collected endorsements from a variety of political figures ranging from House Representative Lucy McBath and U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff to former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young and California Assemblymember Evan Low. Last month, Ramaswami debated a mugshot of his opponent, incumbent Shawn Still — one of the 19 people indicted on charges that he illegally interfered with the 2020 election results in Georgia.

Less than a week before Election Day, Ramaswami spoke with The Daily about his campaign thus far and his hopes for this week’s election.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and concision.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): What’s your day-to-day looking like on the campaign trail as we inch closer to Election Day? How has your campaign been going?

Ashwin Ramaswami (AR): I knew it’d be a close race when I decided to run for office, but especially now, we are seeing how much every single vote counts. This is one of the most high profile state senate races in Georgia. 

Much of what we’ve spent time on as of late has been communicating with voters.

At this point, less than a week before the election, the focus shifts to getting people out to vote. 

TSD: The election is just a few days away. What are your hopes, both personally and nationwide?

AR: I hope that Democrats can win up and down the ballot. I think it’s very clear what the choice is for a country between folks like Donald Trump — who have tried to overturn our elections, don’t have any respect for institutions or democracy, are marginalizing minorities, who are building campaigns based on ignorance and lies — versus Harris-Walz who have focused on bringing people together and have a more inclusive vision for the future. We’ve already seen their campaign bringing in endorsements from Republicans and bridging that political divide, and I think the same will occur on a local level. 

I hope that we’re able to really activate my community here and help people understand that in this election there’s this choice between someone like me who grew up in my district, has this background in technology and law, and wants to move our district forward, or someone like Shawn Still, who has been criminally indicted with Donald Trump for trying to overturn election results in 2020. 

TSD: How has your age played a role in the way you campaign? More specifically, how are you trying to win over voters who may be skeptical of your governing/legislative capabilities because of your age?

AR: It certainly made me a more unique candidate, which has actually been a big positive. Often when people think of young candidates, they see youth as a disadvantage in the political sphere. But what I’ve found is that’s actually a big advantage; people have realized that the current system isn’t working for them, and the only way to change it is to bring in new voices and people with new perspectives. There are a lot of folks who may not have initially voted for a Democratic candidate but see my age and background as reasons to vote differently.

I think my age has allowed me to really connect with people who are young and also…. rooted in the community. Many of our past representatives have been what some might call transplants: they grew up elsewhere and moved here when they ran for office. My high school teachers are cheering me on. People vote for me because they know me and I was classmates with their children.

It doesn’t matter how old you are if you committed crimes and if you’re going to jail. That’s the reason I decided to run for office because someone needed to stand up to someone like Shawn.

TSD: What values underpin your campaign? What motivates those values?

AR: Priority number one is restoring reproductive freedom for Georgians. We have to repeal Georgia’s abortion ban and bring back the protections under Roe v. Wade. 

Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, people have to face the real consequences, which involve women dying because they can’t have access to health care, or doctors not operating life saving procedures because they’re worried about being criminally prosecuted.

The next piece here is gun safety. There was a mass shooting less than an hour away from where I live. People move to my district because the schools are good and because it’s a safe area to live in. It really shakes people to realize that we have such permissive gun laws that don’t even have basic checks. We don’t have anything like safe storage laws, which encourage people to store guns safely so they can’t be misused, or even proper background checks.

TSD: What was running through your mind when you decided to debate that photo of your opponent, Shawn Still.

AR: We were supposed to have a debate run by local high schoolers that happens every two years. I accepted, and suddenly we received an email saying Shawn can’t make it as he has some other commitment. It’s important for incumbents to debate, especially with someone with a track record such as Shawn Still’s what with his extreme policies and his criminal indictment. Voters deserve to be able to hear from him on those issues. So we decided if he’s not going to show up, we’ll basically make him show up by bringing his mugshot. 

TSD: As a young person yourself, what are your concerns with voter turnout amongst young people?

AR: People can only vote when they’re 18. Oftentimes, they can only vote either their senior year of high school or right when they go to college.  What that means is that there’s often a gap between growing up in the community and actually being able to vote. So for a lot of people, their first time they can vote is when they’re out of state or away from home and they have to vote through an absentee ballot. That just creates a disconnect. It’s much harder to vote with an absentee ballot than it is to actually just go in person and vote. That’s just that traditional hurdle. So because of that, a lot of folks just get caught up in the stress of college, and they don’t actually end up voting. Then, once they don’t have the habit, the habit never starts. So I think that’s the biggest concern. 

I think younger candidates like me can change that calculus, because we’re engaging folks, whether it’s high schoolers, college students, young professionals. Everyone is seeing themselves in a candidate like me. They start to realize that we’re not just choosing between two 60-year-olds or 80-year-olds. 

I think it’s just a matter of education — making sure people are aware, but also just helping them understand their own power. I think people often feel disempowered and powerless. First of all, when they see that their elected officials aren’t actually centering them, but also when they see that young people are shut out of the political system. It’s very disempowering. 

TSD: As a former Daily staffer, how do you think journalism plays a role in election turnout as well as combating the apathy that some in our generation feel? 

AR: Working at The Daily as CTO was the first time I realized that the work I’m doing is having such a concrete impact. Tens of thousands of email digests are sent every day and the organization publishes stories that create real impact. It gives students this sense of empowerment. 

News isn’t something to be passively consumed. Rather, it’s created by these different actors, whether that be journalists, people who pitch stories or owners of outlets deciding whether or not to publish endorsements. The news highlights these political forces at play and shows how much public exposure has an impact — it’s a way to keep people accountable for their actions and then tell their stories.

TSD: Any final words you’d like to share with us today?

AR: Being able to meet very famous and influential people at Stanford has helped me realize that at the end of the day, we’re all just normal people. This realization has given me the bravery to take risks and try new things because why not? Why not cold email someone or run for office?

Part of my vision for running for office in my hometown is to give back to my community. I know so many talented people who weren’t able to go to a place like Stanford who, had they had the chance, would have done extremely well and given back to the community. It is incumbent upon those who attend places like Stanford to return home or to other underprivileged communities to share that knowledge and the wealth of resources. This is how we move our country forward; a rising tide truly lifts all boats.