IOWA, Nov. 03, 2004:
NRI, Swati Dandekar
re-elected Iowa seat
NRI Swati Dandekar, a Democrat who registered victory
over her Republican contender two years ago to make
it to the Iowa State Assembly, has been re-elected.
Dandekar was the first Indian-born American citizen
to win a state legislature, though not the first Indian
American, having been preceded by Democratic Majority
leader Kumar Barve of the Maryland State Assembly.
She defeated her opponent Cory Crowley by 10 percentage
points. Poll numbers for one more precinct were to
come in.
Iowa, 2002
Representative Swati Dandekar is the first Indian
born American citizen to win a state legislature seat
in the United States. She represents the Iowa House
District 36, which encompasses the city of Marion,
Linn-Mar Precincts, Maine Township and a small portion
of Cedar Rapids. Ms. Dandekar, a democrat, has been
a community volunteer for a long time, and because
of her contributions to the area as a community volunteer
for many years, her candidacy has been endorsed by
many community organizations in Iowa.
Ms. Dandekar has been a member of the Vision Iowa
Board since its inception in 2000. She was the chair
of the Hall of Pride Criteria Committee, and also
a member of the Vision Iowas Negotiating Team.
She was involved in Polk County/Capital City Vision
Project, McGregor/Marquette Area Legacy, and Waterloo/Cedar
Valley River Renaissance. As a member of the Negotiating
Team of CAT, Ms. Dandekar participated in projects
such as Ames/Connect Iowa, Adair County Recreation
Center, and in Cherokee/Sioux Valley Memorial Hospital
Recreation Center.
Representative Dandekar is a member of Board of Directors
of the Iowa Association of School Board since 2000,
and also a member of the Board of Directors of the
Liars Holographic Radio Theatre since 2001. Since
1996, Ms. Dandekar has been a member of the Linn-Mar
Community School District Board of Education, and
actively participated in many of its programs and
activities. She was the co-chair of the Districts
50th Anniversary Committee, initiated the district-wide
staff recognition program as well as the student recognition
program. She was a Board liaison member for the Strategic
Planning Committee, the Equity Advisory Committee,
the Health and Human Growth and Development Committee,
the School-to-Career Committee, and the High School
Voice Committee (Diversity Committee). She was also
a Board representative to the Linn-Mar School Foundation.
Ms. Dandekar received ABLE I and ABLE II certifications
from the Iowa Associations of School Boards.
In addition, Ms. Dandekar was the president of Sustainers
and chair of the diversity committee of the Junior
League of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She was also involved
in the Linn-Mar Booster Club, the Phoenix Club Leadership
Team, and the Boy Scouts America Hawkeye Area Council.
Ms. Dandekar was a recipient of the J.C. Penney
Education Golden Rule Award (2000), on the Linn-Mar
Foundation Wall of Fame (1982), and a 100-Hour Per
Year School Volunteer for several years.
Representative Dandekar is a strong advocate of improving
educational opportunities in Iowa and believes that
public education spending is an essential investment
in the states future. She believes the state
should take an active role in stimulating the local
economy and creating quality jobs. She also believes
in providing property tax relief in order to encourage
new businesses to the local area.
Ms. Dandekar received her high school diploma from
J.N. Tata Parsi School, Nagpur, and her B.S. degree
in Chemistry and Biology from Nagpur University, India.
She also has a postgraduate diploma in Dietetics from
Bombay University.
Representative Swat Dandekar and her husband, Arvind,
migrated to the United States in 1973. Mr.. Arvind
Dandekar is the CEO/President of Fastek International,
located in Hiawatha, Iowa. Their elder son, Ajai,
is a medical student in the MD, Ph.D. program at the
University of Iowa, and their younger son, Govind,
is a strategic planning analyst for the Walt Disney
Company.