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Manka Dhingra

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Indian and American attorney and politician

Manka Dhingra
Member of the Washington Senate
from the 45th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 29, 2017
Preceded byDino Rossi
Personal details
Born1973 or 1974 (age 50–51)
Bhopal, India
Political partyIndependent (before 2016)
Democratic (2016–present)
SpouseHarjit Singh
Children2
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA)
University of Washington (JD)
Signature
WebsiteCampaign website

Manka Dhingra (born 1973 or 1974) is an Indian-born American attorney and politician who is a Washington State senator. A member of the Democratic Party, she was elected to represent the 45th legislative district, on Seattle's Eastside in King County, during a 2017 special election. Dhingra is the first Sikh elected to any state legislature in the United States.

Dhingra, an Indian immigrant, founded the woman's advocacy organization API Chaya in 1996, and later worked under several elected officials at the state level. She joined the King County Prosecuting Attorney's office in 2000 and led the department's expanding mental health and veterans courts. Dhingra faced criticism in 2023 and 2024 for the data she used to support her positions on police pursuits and for claiming she still worked at the Prosecutor’s Office.

Early life and education

Dhingra was born in Bhopal, India to a Sikh family; her father worked for Union Carbide and her mother was a schoolteacher. After her father died of colon cancer, Dhingra moved to California with her mother at the age of 13, joining her relatives. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, earning a Bachelor of Arts in history and political science in 1995, before moving with her husband Harjit Singh to Redmond, Washington.

Career

Dhingra founded Chaya, a non-profit organization to combat domestic violence against South Asian women, in 1996. She would later work in the offices of state Supreme Court justice Barbara Madsen and the Attorney General Christine Gregoire, while earning a degree from the University of Washington School of Law in 1999. Dhingra joined the King County Prosecuting Attorney's office in 2000 and served as a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for King County; she was last in that role in 2021. Her work in the office's mental health court and the King County District Court Regional Veterans Court earned membership in various mental health and anti-hate crime advocacy organizations.

Dhingra identified herself as a nonpartisan prior to the 2016 presidential election. A few months after attending her first Democratic meeting, she declared her candidacy for the special election created by the death of Republican Andy Hill. Dhingra defeated Jinyoung Englund, the Republican nominee, on November 7, 2017, with 55% of the votes. Dhingra's election overturned the Republican coalition majority in the Washington State Senate, giving the Washington Democratic Party complete control over the state's government for the first time since 2012. She was sworn in on November 29 and became the first Sikh woman to enter a state legislature. Dhingra was named as the deputy majority leader in the Senate and assigned as the chair of the Behavioral Health Subcommittee. She retained the 45th district seat by being re-elected in 2018 and 2022.

In 2023, Dhingra was fined by Washington’s Legislative Ethics Board.

That same year, Dhingra received media coverage of her stances on restoring Washington’s reasonable suspicion standard for police pursuit, including refusing to hold a hearing for a relevant bill in a committee she chairs and promoting problematic data about pursuits. In 2024, Dhingra was criticized for allowing limited public testimony during a hearing she oversaw about Initiative 2113.

She ran in the 2024 Washington Attorney General election to become Attorney General of Washington, as the position was being vacated by Bob Ferguson, who successfully ran for Washington State Governor. During the campaign, Dhingra was criticized for claiming she was still formally associated with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Following that criticism, her campaign website was eventually updated, without including an admission of fault on Dhingra’s behalf. Dhingra came third in the top-two primary, and the election was ultimately won by Nicholas W. Brown.

Personal life

Dhingra met her husband, Harjit Singh, while at the University of California, Berkeley. Singh works for SpaceX in Redmond. The couple have two children.

References

  1. ^ La Corte, Rachel (November 8, 2017). "AP declares Manka Dhingra winner in state Senate race; Dems in control". KOMO. Associated Press. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  2. ^ Janice Nesamani (May 4, 2017). "Manka Dhingra talks about her Senate seat plans". Northwest Asian Weekly. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  3. Washington Secretary of State (November 7, 2017). "November 7, 2017 General Election". Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  4. ^ Haniffa, Aziz (August 4, 2017). "High-stakes showdown in Washington State". India Abroad. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  5. Smith, Matthew (January 24, 2023). "Police pursuit bill has Washington Democrats at odds". FOX 13 Seattle. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  6. Demkovich, Laurel (August 7, 2024). "Serrano, Brown poised to advance in Washington attorney general race • Washington State Standard". Washington State Standard. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  7. ^ O'Sullivan, Joseph (October 22, 2017). "Trump victory helped propel Eastside Democrat into high-stakes Senate race". The Seattle Times. p. B1. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  8. ^ Knauf, Ana Sofia (August 23, 2017). "Meet Manka Dhingra, the Eastside Democrat Who Could End Republican Control of the State Senate". The Stranger. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  9. Reporter, Chris Daniels, KOMO News Senior (July 5, 2024). "WA attorney general candidate questioned over employment claims, asked to correct website". KOMO. Retrieved July 6, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. Barabak, Mark Z. (November 6, 2017). "With Washington statehouse at stake, Democrats seek to build a West Coast wall of Trump resistance". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  11. "About Manka Dhingra". Committee to Elect Manka Dhingra. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  12. Jennifer Bendery (November 8, 2017). "Democrats In Washington State Win Full Control Of The Government". The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  13. O'Sullivan, Joseph (November 8, 2017). "Democrat Manka Dhingra defeats Republican Jinyoung Lee Englund in state Senate race". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  14. Sundell, Allison (November 29, 2017). "Dhingra sworn in, Democrats gain control of both chambers". KING 5 News. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  15. Santos, Melissa (April 5, 2019). "With Jay Inslee running for president, here's who might lead WA next". Crosscut.com. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
  16. Baumgarten, Mark; Stang, John (November 6, 2018). "State Democrats tighten hold on Olympia". Crosscut.com. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
  17. Josie, Bailey (November 8, 2022). "Democratic incumbents win 45th Legislative District by wide margin". Bothell-Kenmore Reporter. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  18. "Ethics board fines WA Sen. Dhingra after abortion news conference | Cascade PBS". www.cascadepbs.org. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  19. Kim, Hana (January 23, 2023). "One Washington lawmaker has the key to block discussions on police pursuits, and she is wielding that power". FOX 13 Seattle. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  20. Markovich, Matt (February 3, 2023). "Legislators source questionable data for changing police pursuit laws". MyNorthwest.com. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  21. Square, Carleen Johnson | The Center (February 28, 2024). "Republicans, others lament 'sham of a hearing' on police pursuit initiative". The Center Square. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  22. Lindsay, Jeanie; Oxley, Dyer (July 12, 2023). "Former U.S. Attorney Nick Brown challenges state Sen. Manka Dhingra in race for WA attorney general". KUOW-FM. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  23. "WA AG candidate faces blowback for 'leave of absence' claim". The Seattle Times. July 10, 2024. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  24. "AG candidate changes website bio after request from King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office". king5.com. July 15, 2024. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  25. "Nick Brown (Washington)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  26. "Senior deputy King County prosecutor to challenge for 45th District senate seat". Kirkland Reporter. February 13, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2017.

External links

Members of the Washington State Senate
68th State Legislature (2023–2025)
President of the Senate
Denny Heck (D)
President pro tempore
Vacant
Majority Leader
Andy Billig (D)
Minority Leader
John Braun (R)
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  8. ▌Matt Boehnke (R)
  9. ▌Mark Schoesler (R)
  10. ▌Ron Muzzall (R)
  11. ▌Bob Hasegawa (D)
  12. ▌Brad Hawkins (R)
  13. ▌Judy Warnick (R)
  14. ▌Curtis King (R)
  15. ▌Nikki Torres (R)
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  27. ▌Yasmin Trudeau (D)
  28. ▌T'wina Nobles (D)
  29. ▌Steve Conway (D)
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  40. ▌Liz Lovelett (D)
  41. ▌Lisa Wellman (D)
  42. ▌Sharon Shewmake (D)
  43. ▌Jamie Pedersen (D)
  44. ▌John Lovick (D)
  45. ▌Manka Dhingra (D)
  46. ▌Javier Valdez (D)
  47. ▌Claudia Kauffman (D)
  48. ▌Patty Kuderer (D)
  49. ▌Annette Cleveland (D)
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