Washington, Dec 8 (IANS) Congressman Ami Bera, one of the longest-serving Indian American lawmakers in the US House and a founding member of the Congressional Doctors Caucus, on Monday endorsed Dr Tina Shah in her bid for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, giving her campaign a significant lift in a battleground seat closely watched by South Asian voters.
“I am proud to endorse Dr Tina Shah for Congress in New Jersey’s 7th District,” Bera said in a statement released by the campaign. “As a fellow physician, I know she understands the healthcare crisis – and will bring real-world tested solutions to lower costs and make it easier for every New Jerseyan and American to get quality healthcare. I look forward to welcoming her to the Congressional Doctors Caucus.”
Dr Shah, an intensive care physician and first-time congressional candidate, welcomed the endorsement. “I’m honoured to have Congressman Bera’s support,” she said.
“As a physician and a national leader on healthcare policy, Congressman Bera understands exactly what’s at stake for families as Trump, RFK Jr, and Congressional Republicans gut our healthcare. I look forward to joining Congressman Bera in the Congressional Doctors Caucus to continue my life’s work of increasing access to high-quality, affordable healthcare.”
Shah is running a campaign focused on lowering healthcare costs, regulating insurance, and expanding access—priorities shaped by her experience as an ICU doctor and federal policy lead. She argues that the system prioritises profits and politics over patients, citing firsthand experience with rising costs, insurance denials, and political gridlock harming both patients and clinicians.
She ties her candidacy directly to national debates over healthcare access, insurance coverage, abortion rights, and the impact of political decisions on healthcare policy. As her campaign site states, “As a doctor, she refuses to stand by while Donald Trump and RFK Jr. gut our healthcare and undermine lifesaving medical research, and career politicians like Tom Kean Jr. do nothing to lower healthcare costs and instead vote to gut Medicaid and ban lifesaving procedures like abortion.” Her stated goal is “to restore science and sanity back to Washington – and to make healthcare work for everyone.”
Board-certified in internal, pulmonary, and critical care medicine, Shah centres her message on her ICU experience, which led her to federal policy.
Shah served under three White House administrations. As Senior Advisor to the US Surgeon General, she “spearheaded the nation’s first federal strategy to address clinician burnout, ensuring we have enough nurses and doctors to care for us when we need them most.”
At the Department of Veterans Affairs, she became the agency’s first National Director of Clinician Wellbeing, where she worked to “improve the efficiency of how doctors use electronic medical records, resulting in quickly expanding primary care access for veterans.”
In New Jersey, Shah led efforts to stop insurance companies from denying essential care. She was Chief Clinical Officer at Abridge, a healthcare AI company, and now advises on AI in care delivery.
A daughter of immigrants, Shah says she is seeking office “to rebuild trust in government, expand access to care, and fight back against dangerous ideologies with science, empathy, and common sense.”
Bera is one of five Indian Americans in the US House and a leading figure on healthcare policy within the Democratic caucus. His endorsement is expected to draw attention from the Indian American community in New Jersey, which has grown into one of the state’s most politically active diaspora groups.
New Jersey’s 7th District, a perennial swing seat, remains competitive. Healthcare, abortion access, and insurance regulation will likely continue to be central issues as the 2026 election cycle intensifies.
–IANS
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