Hiral Tipirneni Loses Hard Fought Race in Arizona 8th Special Election

WASHINGTON—AAPI Victory Fund is proud of Hiral Tipirneni for her strong showing in the Arizona 8th Congressional District special election. Considered a “Safe Republican” district, with 49 percent of registered voters identified as Republicans, while only 28 percent are Democrats, Tipirneni gained momentum heading into the election last night. An early endorser of Tipirneni, in January, the AAPI Victory Fund named Tipirneni to its inaugural Mineta XI candidates to watch.“The AAPI Victory Fund came out early in support of Tipirneni by mobilizing our connections with the donor and activist community and bringing attention to what the establishment deemed a long-shot race,” said Shekar Narasimhan, Chair of AAPI Victory Fund. “In addition to our direct digital spending and raising money from the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, the AAPI Victory Fund energized AAPIs behind a viable candidate.”Tipirneni, an accomplished doctor, polled well going into election day in a district that Trump captured by 21 points. Tipirneni narrowly lost the election and was able to gather 47.4 percent of the vote. “During her campaign, Tipirneni outraised her opponent forcing Republican PACs to drop hundreds of thousands of dollars for her opponent,” said Narasimhan. “The Republican investment showcases that Tipirneni was a threat to what is normally an extremely conservative, Republican district. AAPI Victory Fund is proud to have supported Tipirneni and we thank all of our partners for supporting a fantastic candidate. The Arizona 8th race has shown us what we can achieve when we support AAPI candidates.”Tipirneni tweeted that she plans to run in November's general election and told supporters not to give up.“Tipirneni has our full endorsement. We look forward to supporting her run again and encourage the establishment to invest now to ensure victory in November,” said Narasimhan.

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