Amish Shah (born 1977/1978) is an American politician and physician who served as a member of the

Arizona House of Representatives The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Arizona Senate, Senate. The House convenes in the le ...

for District 5 from 2023 to 2024. He previously served as the Representative for District 24 from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he first entered the legislature by defeating incumbent Representative Ken Clark in 2018. Shah was the Democratic candidate for

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

in in the 2024 election, losing to incumbent Republican

David Schweikert David Sheridan Schweikert ( ; born March 3, 1962) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative from since 2023. The district covers northeastern Maricopa County. He previously served as the U.S. representativ ...

Early life and education

Amish Shah was born and raised in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. His parents immigrated from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in the 1960s while pursuing degrees in engineering. He attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, where he earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in economics. Shah attended Northwestern's

Feinberg School of Medicine The Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, formerly Northwestern Medical School from 1906 to 2002, is the medical school of Northwestern University and is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Founded in ...

, where he received his

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

degree. Later, he went to the

UC Berkeley School of Public Health The University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, also called Berkeley Public Health, is one of fourteen schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. The school is currently accredited by the Council on Education ...

, earning a

Master of Public Health The Master of Public Health (MPH), Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Master of Medical Science in Public Health (MMSPH) and the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH), International Masters for Health Leadership (IMHL) are interdisciplinary profes ...

degree.

Medical career

After his masters degree, Shah completed his residency in

emergency medicine Emergency medicine is the medical specialty concerned with the care of illnesses or injuries requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency physicians (or "ER doctors") specialize in providing care for unscheduled and undifferentiated pa ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He became a faculty member and academic researcher at

Mount Sinai Medical Center Mount Sinai Hospital, formerly at times known as Mount Sinai Medical Center, is a 319-bed major urban hospital in Chicago, Illinois, with its main campus located adjacent to Douglass Park at 15th Street and California Avenue on the city's West Si ...

. During his time in New York, Shah worked as a

team physician The team physician for a sports team is the physician who is in charge of coordinating the medical staff and medical services for a sports team. They are also subject to activities involving team building. The goal of a team physician is to improve ...

for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. He later served as the chief medical officer of Urgent Consult. Shah is an

emergency physician An emergency physician (often called an "ER doctor" in the United States) is a physician who works in an emergency department to care for ill patients. The emergency physician specializes in advanced cardiac life support (advanced life support ...

at the

Mayo Clinic Arizona Mayo Clinic Arizona is a multi-campus medical clinic and tertiary medical center in Phoenix, Arizona. Its two main campuses are the outpatient clinic building, situated in east Scottsdale, Arizona, and the Arizona Hospital, located in north Phoeni ...

as of 2023.

Arizona House of Representatives

Elections

2018

In 2018, Shah entered the Democratic primary to represent Arizona's 24th Legislative District. As a newcomer, he faced incumbent Representative Ken Clark. The other incumbent for the 24th District, Lela Alston, decided to run for state senate. Alston and Clark chose to support John Glenn to fill Alston's open seat. Shah and another newcomer, Jennifer Longdon, defeated Clark, Glenn, and others to advance to the general election. In the 2018 general election, Shah and Jennifer Longdon were elected to the Arizona House of Representatives, defeating David Alger Sr.

2020

In 2020, Shah and fellow incumbent Jennifer Longdon won the 24th District's Democratic primary. In the 2020 general election the pair defeated Robyn Cushman and David Alger to win re-election.

2022

After the 2022

redistricting in Arizona The U.S. state of Arizona, in common with the other U.S. states, must redraw its congressional and legislative districts every ten years to reflect changes in the state and national populations. Redistricting normally follows the completion of ...

was completed, Shah's home legislative district was changed from District 24 to District 5. Fellow District 24 incumbent Representative Jennifer Longdon, and District 28 incumbent Representative Sarah Liguori were also placed in the new District 5. The Representatives also faced activist Brianna Westbrook and Phoenix Union High School District Governing Board member Aaron Márquez in the district's Democratic primary. Shah and Longdon advanced to the general election, defeating Liguori, Westbrook, and Márquez. Shah and Representative Jennifer Longdon prevailed in the 2022 general election.

2024 U.S. House campaign

Shah announced his intention to run for

in in the

2024 elections This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. *2024 United Nations Security Council election *2024 national electoral calendar *2024 local electoral ...

on April 3, 2023. He resigned from the Arizona House in February 2024 to focus on his campaign. He lost to Republican incumbent

in the November 2024 general election.

Electoral history

2018

2020

2022

2024

References

External links

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Amish 1977 births 21st-century American academics 21st-century American physicians 21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature American academics of Indian descent American emergency physicians American physicians of Indian descent American politicians of Indian descent American sports physicians Candidates in the 2024 United States House of Representatives elections Democratic Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives Feinberg School of Medicine alumni Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai faculty Living people Northwestern University alumni Politicians from Chicago UC Berkeley School of Public Health alumni