Pramila Jayapal (born September 21, 1965) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Washington's 7th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents most of Seattle, as well as some suburban areas of King County. Jayapal represented the 37th legislative district in the Washington State Senate from 2015 to 2017. She is the first Indian American woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. The district's first female member of Congress, she is also the first Asian American to represent Washington at the federal level.
Before entering electoral politics, Jayapal was a Seattle-based civil rights activist, serving until 2012 as the executive director of OneAmerica, an immigrant advocacy group. She founded the organization, originally called Hate Free Zone, after the September 11 attacks. Jayapal co-chaired the Congressional Progressive Caucus from 2019 to 2021, followed by a term serving as Chair from 2021 to 2025. She serves on both the Judiciary Committee and Budget Committee.
Contents
Early life and education
Jayapal was born on September 21, 1965, into a Malayali Nair family in Chennai, India, to Maya Jayapal (née Menon), a writer, and Muduvangad Puthanveetil Jayapal, a marketing professional. She spent most of her childhood in Indonesia and Singapore. She can speak Hindi but does not speak Malayalam fluently. Jayapal attended Jakarta Intercultural School. She came to the U.S. in 1982, at age 16, to attend college. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University and a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
After graduating from college, Jayapal worked for PaineWebber as a financial analyst. At PaineWebber, she began to work on development projects from Chicago to Thailand. Later, she briefly worked in sales and marketing for a medical company before moving into the public sector in 1991.
Early career
Advocacy work
Jayapal founded Hate Free Zone after the 2001 September 11 attacks as an advocacy group for immigrant groups. Hate Free Zone registered new American citizens to vote and lobbied on immigration reform and related issues. It successfully sued the Bush Administration's Immigration and Naturalization Services to prevent the deportation of over 4,000 Somalis across the country. In 2008, the group changed its name to OneAmerica. Jayapal stepped down from her leadership position in May 2012. In 2013, she was recognized by the White House as a "Champion of Change".
On June 29, 2018, Jayapal participated in Women Disobey and the sit-in at the Hart Senate Office Building to protest against the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" approach to illegal immigration. The protest resulted in the arrest of over 500 people, including Jayapal. She said she was "proud to have been arrested" for protesting the administration's "inhumane and cruel" policy.
Washington legislature
Jayapal served on the Mayoral Advisory Committee that negotiated Seattle's $15 minimum wage and co-chaired the mayor's police chief search committee, which resulted in the unanimous selection of the city's first female police chief.
After State Senator Adam Kline announced his retirement in early 2014, Jayapal entered the race to succeed him. She was endorsed by Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and won more than 51% of the vote in the August 5 primary, out of a field of six candidates. She defeated fellow Democrat Louis Watanabe in November.
In the Washington State Senate, Jayapal was the primary sponsor of SB 5863, which directs the Washington State Department of Transportation to administer a pre-apprenticeship program targeting women and people of color; the bill passed into law in July 2015. She co-sponsored a bill to test and track thousands of police department rape kits.
Jayapal endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for President of the United States in the 2016 Democratic primaries.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
In January 2016, Jayapal declared her candidacy for Congress in Washington's 7th congressional district, after incumbent Representative Jim McDermott announced his retirement. In April, she was endorsed by Bernie Sanders. On August 2, Jayapal finished first in the top-two primary, alongside state representative Brady Walkinshaw, also a Democrat. This was the first time in the state's history that a federal seat was contested by two Democrats. Both identified as progressive Democrats. The 7th is the most Democratic district in the Pacific Northwest, and the seat was all but certain to stay in Democratic hands even if a Republican took the second spot in the primary.
In the final weeks of the race, Jayapal and her supporters contested claims from Walkinshaw that she had not advanced enough legislation. Jayapal won the general election with 56% of the vote.
Tenure
Jayapal became the first Indian American woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
On January 6, 2017, Jayapal objected to Georgia's 16 electoral votes, which Donald Trump had won by over 200,000 votes. Because no senator joined her objection, the objection was dismissed.
During Trump's inauguration, Jayapal met with constituents in her congressional district instead of attending the ceremony. The Nation called her "a leader of the resistance," quoting Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi calling Jayapal "a rising star in the Democratic caucus." In September, Representative Don Young apologized to her after calling her "young lady" in an exchange that went viral. Jayapal has described facing sexism from colleagues in Congress.
On January 20, 2020, Jayapal endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries.
In September 2021, BuzzFeed reported that 14 former staffers had described Jayapal's congressional office as a volatile and dysfunctional workplace. Jayapal's office responded with a statement calling the allegations "sexist", "ugly stereotypes", and lacking context.
In 2024, Jayapal raised over $400,000 for the election campaign of Vice President Harris, as well as making other public statements in praise of Harris.
Jayapal voted against a House resolution condemning the United Nations Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements built on the occupied Palestinian Territories in the West Bank. In July 2019, she voted against a House resolution condemning the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement targeting Israel. The resolution passed 398–17. On July 16, 2023, she addressed the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and described Israel as a “racist state”. Later, she apologized for the remarks and issued a statement criticizing the government of Benjamin Netanyahu as "extreme right-wing" and said it had "engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies". She voted for a resolution proposed by August Pfluger (R-TX) which states that “the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state", that Congress rejects "all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia" and that “the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel."
Leadership posts
Senior Whip, Democratic Caucus of the United States House of Representatives
Vice Ranking Member, United States House Committee on the Budget
Chair, Congressional Progressive Caucus
Co-chair and co-founder, United for Climate and Environmental Justice Task Force
Chair, Immigration Task Force, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC)
Co-chair, Women's Working Group on Immigration Reform
DNC Transition Team Member
Committee memberships
Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement (Ranking Member)
Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Africa
Subcommittee on South and Central Asia
Committee on the Budget
Caucus memberships
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Medicare for All Caucus
Congressional Freethought Caucus
Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus (vice chair)
Congressional Progressive Caucus
Personal life
Jayapal was formerly married to Alan J. Preston from 1990 until 2000. She initially lost her green card when she gave birth prematurely in India and was unable to return in time to maintain Permanent Resident status. She became a U.S. citizen in 2000. She is the author of Pilgrimage: One Woman's Return to a Changing India, published in March 2000.
Jayapal lives in Seattle with her husband, Steven R. Williamson whom she married on August 4, 2007. Kashika, Jayapal's child from her previous marriage to Preston, is transgender and previously identified as non-binary. She also has a stepson, Michael.
Jayapal's older sister Susheela has served on the Multnomah County Commission since 2019. Susheela announced that she would run in Oregon's 3rd congressional district after Earl Blumenauer announced in 2023 that he would retire rather than run in the 2024 election. Susheela ultimately lost to Maxine Dexter in the Democratic primary.
Jayapal tested positive for COVID-19 on January 11, 2021. In a statement released after her diagnosis, she criticized her Republican colleagues for refusing to wear masks when members of Congress were placed on lockdown during the 2021 United States Capitol attack.
On July 9, 2022, Seattle resident Brett Forsell was arrested after he arrived at Jayapal's Seattle house and yelled obscenities and threats at her. Forsell was released and charged when more evidence had been collected. Forsell had driven by her house repeatedly for weeks, shouting insults. When arrested, he was armed with a handgun with a round in its chamber. He was charged with felony stalking and released on $150,000 bail. In June 2023, Forsell pled guilty to stalking and was sentenced to 364 days in jail followed by 24 months of probation.