Aparna Raj

Aparna Raj
Raj in 2025
Member-elect of the Council of the District of Columbia
from the 1st ward
Assuming office
January 2, 2027
SucceedingBrianne Nadeau
Personal details
Born (1993-11-19) November 19, 1993 (age 32)
West Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S.
PartyDemocratic
Other political
affiliations
EducationVanderbilt University (BA)

Aparna Raj (born November 19, 1993) is an American organizer and politician who is the councilmember-elect for the Council of the District of Columbia from Ward 1. A Democrat and democratic socialist, Raj is a member and former chair of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America.

Early life and career

Raj was born and raised in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Her parents are immigrants from India. Raj attended Vanderbilt University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and economics. In 2015, Raj moved to Washington, D.C..

Raj worked at food justice nonprofit DC Greens as a communications manager. Previously, she worked as a political researcher and as a consultant. From 2021 to 2026, Raj worked as a communications manager for progressive policy advocacy group Local Progress.

Political career

During the first Trump administration, Raj organized for immigrants' rights. In 2019, the landlord for Raj's Columbia Heights group house ignored repair problems and stopped paying the mortgage. The property was foreclosed and sold to a real estate developer, who forced the tenants to move. Raj became a tenant organizer, convinced that renters needed more representation in local politics.

Raj is a member of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America (MDC DSA). In 2021, Raj was elected to the MDC DSA's Steering Committee. In 2023, Raj was elected to Chapter Chair.

On November 3, 2026, Raj was elected councilmember for Ward 1.

2026 DC council campaign

On August 12, 2025, Raj announced her campaign for the 2026 Council of the District of Columbia election in Ward 1. Incumbent councilmember Brianne Nadeau later announced that she would not seek reelection, leaving an open Ward 1 race.

Raj's campaign platform included expanding rent stabilization to more properties and funding universal childcare through a corporate tax on large corporations doing business in the District. Her housing proposals included bringing newer buildings under rent control, restoring the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act as a universal right, ending exclusionary zoning, and allowing denser housing, including more family-sized units. She also supported stronger local protections for immigrants, legal defense funding for people facing detention or deportation, ending cooperation between the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and D.C. statehood. Raj ran to the left of Nadeau and outpaced the rest of the Ward 1 field in fundraising, raising more than $330,000 by April 2026. Her endorsements included the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, UNITE HERE Local 25, American Federation of Government Employees Locals 2725 and 2978, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400, Communications Workers of America, Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America, the D.C. Working Families Party, Run for Something, Bike Walk Bus PAC, D.C. Women in Politics, and DC for Democracy.

In the lead up the general election, Raj spent the month of August in a Spanish language immersion program in Guatemala to better connect with the Ward's Latino population.

Personal life

Raj identifies as bisexual. She lives in Columbia Heights with her husband, Stuart Karaffa, whom she married in 2025.

Notes

  1. ↑ The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are not a registered political party. Instead, they are a political organization for those with democratic socialist ideologies. Raj is a member of and is endorsed by the Metro DC DSA chapter.

References

  1. ↑ aparnafordc (November 19, 2025). "Today is the day! Aparna's officially 32". Instagram. Retrieved May 12, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Delgado, Sam; Austermuhle, Martin (April 16, 2026). "Meet the candidates running to represent Ward 1". The 51st. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Flynn, Meagan (September 25, 2025). "D.C. Council member Brianne Nadeau will not seek reelection in Ward 1". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Aparna Raj". Local Progress. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Prior to joining Local Progress, Aparna worked at DC Greens, a local food justice nonprofit, where she built their communications department. There, she developed and maintained the organization's media and digital strategy, collaborated with other grassroots organizations on advocacy communications, and structured the communications program to center racial equity and people impacted by food insecurity. Aparna has also worked as a political researcher and as a consultant for pro bono nonprofit clients. Aparna grew up in West Chester, Pennsylvania and went to school at Vanderbilt University, where she studied Political Science and Economics.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Chibbaro Jr., Lou (December 8, 2025). "Third LGBTQ candidate running for Ward 1 D.C. Council seat". Washington Blade. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Roodehchi, Sahar (April 20, 2026). "I'm Running Because It Shouldn't Be So Hard to Live Here". Jacobin. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Meet Aparna". Aparna for DC. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  8. ↑ Potts, Monica (March 12, 2026). "Zohran Mamdani and the Rise of the Renter Politicians". The New Republic. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  9. ↑ Allen, Ike (February 3, 2026). "DC Politics Is About to Get Wild". Washingtonian. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  10. ↑ B., Ken (April 29, 2026). "Not Built in a Day: Metro DC DSA's Journey from Infancy to the Mayoral Run". Geese. Retrieved May 12, 2026.
  11. ↑ Metro DC DSA. "MDC DSA is excited to announce that we have endorsed the former Chair of our chapter, Aparna Raj, for Ward 1 DC Council!". Bluesky. Retrieved May 12, 2026.
  12. ↑ Z, Gary (December 19, 2021). "2021 December Local Elections Steering Electoral Endorsement and Priority Campaign Results". Metro DC DSA. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2026.
  13. ↑ Mills, Claire (Winter 2024). "Democracy in action at Metro DC DSA's 2023 Local Convention". Washington Socialist. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  14. ↑ Metro DC DSA Steering Committee (January 2023). "Metro DC DSA Annual Report: 2022". Washington Socialist. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  15. ↑ "See election results from Washington, D.C.'s 2026 midterms". WRC-TV. November 3, 2026. Retrieved November 6, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Endorsements". Aparna for DC. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  17. ↑ Kurzius, Rachel (August 27, 2026). "They're not in office yet. But these D.C. hopefuls are already getting to work". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 1, 2026.