Swati A. Dandekar (born March 6, 1951) is a former

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

state legislator and former U.S. Executive Director at the

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. She is a Democratic member of the Iowa Utilities Board, awaiting Senate confirmation in 2012. Previously, she was a member of the

Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...

for the 36th District from 2003 to 2009 and a member of the

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for the 18th District from 2009 to 2011. She received her B.S. degree in

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and

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from Nagpur University and a graduate diploma in dietetics from

University of Mumbai University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

. Dandekar serves as the Chair (formerly President) of the National Foundation for Women Legislators and as a board member of the Iowa Math and Science Coalition, the Greater Cedar Rapids Foundation, and the Belin-Blank International Center for Gifted & Talented. Dandekar previously served on the Iowa Association of School Boards, and as a board member of the Women in Public Policy (Iowa Charter), and the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy. On July 23, 2013 Dandekar announced that she would be running for the U.S. Congress from the 1st congressional district; she lost in the primary to former state house speaker Pat Murphy, who himself lost to

Rod Blum Rodney Leland Blum (; born April 26, 1955) is an American businessman and politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Iowa's 1st congressional district from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republic ...

Political history

Before her election to the

Iowa General Assembly The Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Repre ...

, Dandekar was a two-term member of the Linn-Mar Community School District Board from 1996 to 2002. During that time,

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Tom Vilsack appointed her to the Vision Iowa Board, a post she held from 2000 to 2002. She began her legislative career in 2002, winning an election to the Iowa House District 36, defeating Republican Karen Balderston. She won re-election twice, against Republican Cory Crowly in 2004 and Republican Nick Wagner in 2006, before running for the Iowa Senate. In 2008, Dandekar defeated Republican Joe Childers for election to Iowa Senate District 18, and served there until resigning in 2011 to accept Governor

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's appointment to the Iowa Utilities Board for a term expiring in 2015. While in the House, Dandekar served on the Appropriations, Economic Growth, and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee during all three terms, and served on the Education committee during her first term and the Transportation committee during her third term. While in the Senate, she served on the Commerce, Economic Growth, Rebuild Iowa, Transportation, and Ways and Means committees, while reprising her role as a member of the Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee.

Recognition

Dandekar has received several awards, including the J. C. Penney Education Golden Rule award, the 2003 Pillar of the Community award from Waypoint, recognition as a 2004 Flemming Institute Fellow and recognition by the

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' Global Economic Conference. In addition, she has been named Person of the Year three times, once in 2002 by '' India Abroad'', once in 2003 by the Asian Alliance of Iowa, and once in 2008 by '' AsianWeek''. During her 2014 campaign for the Iowa 1st Congressional District Democratic primary, Dandekar was formally endorsed by the

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Electoral history

Personal life

Dandekar and her husband, Arvind, have two adult sons.

References

External links

Senator Swati Dandekar
at The Iowa Legislature * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dandekar, Swati 1951 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives Indian emigrants to the United States Politicians from Nagpur Women state legislators in Iowa University of Mumbai alumni Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University alumni Democratic Party Iowa state senators School board members in Iowa People from Marion, Iowa American people of Marathi descent Candidates in the 2014 United States elections 21st-century American women politicians American politicians of Indian descent Asian-American people in Iowa politics Asian American and Pacific Islander state legislators 21st-century members of the Iowa General Assembly