Rohit “Ro” Khanna has been the US Congressman representing the California 17th District since 2016. He is a Democrat who will be facing Republican Ritesh Tandon in the November general election. And barring any huge surprises he is slated to win handily, especially since he received more votes in the June 2026 primary election than all the other five candidates combined. His district is in the San Francisco Bay area.
Khanna is a part of a progressive grouping sometimes referred to as “Democratic Socialists.” It will be interesting to see how well these Democrats fare during this November’s mid-term elections since it is possible that the American voter will steer that way. One main reason is a growing affordability problem in this country. Americans like any other people in the world desire affordable healthcare and housing and are more focused on local needs like getting their kids a good education. But President Trump who has proved to be quite a survivor may spring another surprise in November!
Congressman Khanna has had support far beyond the district he represents and his campaign fundraiser in the Sacramento area on Friday, August 28, 2026, at a local event center in Rancho Cordova was not a surprise. With Br. Waseem Bawa, Dr. Hiba Hamdan and Dr. Jawad Arif taking the initiative as hosts, the event drew some of the “who’s who” of the Muslim community in the region who came to meet, listen to, and support him.
The formalities began with an Islamic invocation. Br. Waseem was emcee for the evening and along with Dr. Hiba Hamdan clearly articulated the viewpoint of the local community on the Palestinian issue. Dr. Hiba focused locally too and said that we as a community are living in times when we cannot afford not to be engaged. She added that for quite a while our voices were not heard but the tide is turning and now, we have emerging voices like Zohran Mamdani, Abdul El-Sayed and right here in our backyard, Ro Khanna.
The Congressman appeared quite relaxed here and delivered a poignant and candid speech on several issues. He first thanked the hosts and shared some of his experiences after his visit to the West Bank and particularly the town of Hebron, He said that what he witnessed stunned him. He was there along with an Israeli citizen and a Jewish American but was singled out and asked if he was a son of Isaac (Jewish) or a son of Ishmeal (Arab). He added that when he said that he was a Hindu, it took them completely by surprise.
This is not an ideological conflict, but it is the dehumanization of a people that is going on, he said. He described the situation there as worse than apartheid. Ro spoke of the daily indignity of violence that the Palestinians are facing at the hands of settlers. We need to educate the American people and others around the world about these facts on the ground, said Khanna.
We now have a chance to bring changes like we have not had during the past 15 years, he said. And on that note, the event moved to an extensive Q&A session which gave the attendees a chance to interact. I did get a chance to ask Ro about the chances of ever getting universal healthcare in the US. He said that the move towards it could be incremental and that just reducing the Medicare age of enrollment down to fifty (from sixty-five) could be a major step in that direction.
Congressman Ro Khanna is an oddity. He represents a district which possibly holds more wealth than any other in this country, yet he focuses his attention on the problems of working-class families, immigrants, and seniors. He is an Indian American (born in Philadelphia) who derives inspiration from his maternal grandfather, Amarnath Vidyalankar, who had actively joined the struggle for India’s independence from the British in the 1940s. In his own words Khanna describes that struggle as secular. And today it comes as no surprise that Ro retains those secular values, and that many voting Americans (including Muslims) support him.