MADISON, WI(TIP): Indian American Raj Shukla has announced that he will run for the Madison, Wisconsin, mayor. “I am running for mayor to lead Madison to become all we know it can be,” he said on his website announcing the candidacy. “I’ve helped businesses, nonprofits and governments move forward and live up to their ideals. I will do same for the people of Madison, WI.”

The University of Wisconsin-Madison grad is currently the executive director of River Alliance of Wisconsin, a coalition of individuals, businesses and watershed groups that works toward protecting and restoring the state’s waters. Shukla also heads the Sustainable Madison Committee — an advisory panel appointed by the mayor that is tasked with ensuring that Madison is safe, clean and healthy. He once worked for former Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project.

According to the Political Action Committee Indian American Impact Fund, if elected, Shukla would become the first Indian American mayor of one of the 100 largest cities in the United States.

The primary will be held on February 19, 2019, and the general mayoral election is scheduled for April 2, 2019.

Madison is an overwhelmingly progressive and Democratic city. The last time a Republican won a mayoral election in the city was in 1969.

Shukla is the fourth Democrat to enter the race.

The current Mayor Paul Soglin, who is running for Wisconsin governor, announced on July 17 that he will not seek re-election.

Shukla and his wife, Tora Frank, have been residents of Madison since 2006. They have three daughters.