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Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (born June 10, 1971 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is a Louisiana politician. Jindal was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives on November 2, 2004, from Louisiana's First Congressional District (map), based in the suburbs of New Orleans.

Biography

Jindal, born to Indian immigrants, as a Hindu but converted to Catholicism while in high school. He graduated from Brown University with honors in biology and public policy. Afterwards, he received a master's degree in politics from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He will be the only Indian-American in the next Congress, and only the second ever, after Dalip Singh Saund, to serve in the U.S. Congress.

His previous public service includes time as the Louisiana Secretary of Department of Health & Hospitals, Executive Director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare, and Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He was also the youngest ever president of the University of Louisiana System.

He was chosen by Scholastic Update magazine as "one of America's top 10 extraordinary young people for the next millennium."

2003 race for Governor

In the 2003 open primary for Governor of Louisiana Jindal came in first place with 33% of the vote. In the runoff election he faced then-Lt. Governor Kathleen Blanco in 2003, a conservative Democrat. Blanco won with 52% of the vote to Jindal's 48%. Some political analysts believe that his loss was partly due to the fact that white conservatives from northern Louisiana did not vote for Jindal because he is not white. Other political analysts believe that Jindal lost because of his refusal to answer questions about his record and policies he enacted during his public service. Still others note that a significant number of Louisiana conservatives remain more comfortable voting for a conservative Democrat than for a Republican.

Despite losing the election, the run for Governor made Jindal a well known figure on the state's political scene.

House victory

A few weeks after the gubernatorial runoff, Jindal decided to run for the 1st District. The incumbent, David Vitter, was running for the Senate seat being vacated by John Breaux. Jindal had lived in Baton Rouge for many years, but moved to Kenner to run for the congressional seat. He became the "official" Republican candidate in Louisiana's open primary for the district. As the 1st District is considered the most Republican district in Louisiana, this gave Jindal a substantial advantage. He won handily in November with 78% of the vote.

Policy positions

Jindal is stongly pro-life and opposes abortion in almost all instances. The only abortion exception that he supports is when the life of the mother is in jeopardy (Jindal is a Roman Catholic and this exception is consistent with the Roman Catholic church's position on abortion). Jindal's position on abortion has been publicly reported on by the Gannett News Service (which operates several newspapers in Louisiana).

Jindal supported the “Stelly Tax plan”, an idea that was supposed to reduce the tax burden on a majority of Louisiana taxpayers. Whether or not the “Stelly Plan” is giving the desired results is still hotly debated statewide. Early Republican challenger Steve Scalise challenged Jindal on his support of this tax plan before he dropped out of the Congressional race.

Jindal also supports co-payments in Medicaid.

External Links

• Campaign site
• Official House site
• Little India Article about Jindal.
• Bobby Jindal's Voting Record.

• 1971 births
• Louisiana politicians
• Members of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Indian Americans