WASHINGTON (TIP): Manka Dhingra, an Indian-American Democrat, has won the August 1 primary for the state Senate seat in Washington’s 45^th Legislative District, defeating her Republican contender Jinyoung Lee Englund.

Dhingra is a senior deputy prosecutor in King County who supervises the Regional Mental Health Court and oversees the Veterans Court. Manka Dhingra is dedicated to improving Washington’s 45th District, the community she calls home. A King County prosecutor since 2000, Dhingra serves as Chair of the Therapeutic Alternative Unit. In this position, she helps the county’s most vulnerable citizens access mental health and substance abuse prevention services to prevent recidivism in the criminal justice system.

Prior to becoming a King County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, she interned with the State Attorney General’s Office in their Criminal Division assisting with Sexually Violent Predator cases.  She also clerked for Justice Barbara Madsen at the Washington State Supreme Court from September 1997 to June 1998.

As an instructor for law enforcement in crisis intervention training, Dhingra has been a key player in changing racial policing practices. Dhingra’s unwavering support for women’s and immigrant’s rights is clearly demonstrated by her work on the Seattle Police Department’s Muslim, Arab, and Sikh Advisory Council and by her founding of API Chaya, an organization that works to end domestic violence in the South Asian community.

Dhingra earned her J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law. A mother of two children who attend Redmond Middle School and Redmond High School, Manka received the PTSA Golden Acorn Award for her work at Redmond Elementary School and remains a proud Girl Scout cookie mom. Manka and her husband, Harjit Singh, a Distinguished Engineer at SpaceX, live in the Education Hill neighborhood of Redmond.