Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-8)

S. Raja Krishnamoorthi

Raja Krishnamoorthi Congressional Candidate Illinois District 8

Biography of Raja Krishnamoorthi from Raja for Congress

Raja Krishnamoorthi, 38, of Hoffman Estates has a unique mix of private and public experience that will enable him to help secure our economic future while bringing efficiencies to government and protecting the taxpayer’s pocketbook. Through his high-level business experience, Raja understands what it takes to meet a budget, innovate new products and put people to work by growing high-tech businesses. He also has a proven ability to fight government corruption and cut costs.

Raja currently serves as President of Sivananthan Laboratories, a Bolingbrook-based business dedicated to the research, development and commercialization of cutting-edge products and technologies in national security and renewable energy. The company specializes in night vision military technology, solar cells, biosensors to detect weapons of mass destruction, and radiation detectors.

Before joining his current company, Raja served as Deputy Treasurer for Illinois where he helped revamp the state’s unclaimed property system by increasing the amount of returned property while cutting the program’s costs. He also helped to run the technology venture capital fund, which has helped create hundreds of good-paying jobs in Illinois.

In 2006, Raja was appointed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to serve as Special Assistant Attorney General to help start her Public Integrity Unit. Before that, he served as a member of the Illinois Housing Development Authority where he was Chairman of the Audit Committee.

The son of Indian immigrants to the U.S., Raja was raised in Peoria, where he attended public schools and graduated as a valedictorian of his high school class. Raja earned his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in mechanical engineering from Princeton University in 1995 and graduated with honors from Harvard Law School in 2000.

Following law school, Raja clerked for a federal judge in Chicago and rose to become a partner in the international law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He served as issues director for Barack Obama’s successful U.S. Senate campaign in 2004 and as an advisor to his successful presidential campaign in 2008.

In 2010, Raja ran for the Democratic nomination for Illinois State Comptroller, earning enthusiastic endorsements from the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times for his focus on bringing greater transparency and fiscal discipline to government finances. He missed winning the nomination by approximately one percent.

As a resident of Hoffman Estates, Raja served on the Village’s Comprehensive Planning Advisory Commission.

Raja is married to Priya, a doctor at a local hospital. They have two sons: Vijay, 6, who attends Winston Churchill Elementary School, and Vikram, who is 2.