Manka Dhingra, an Indian-American is running for the Washington state Senate from the 45th District, when instances of violence against the members of the community have hit headlines.
Manka Dhingra, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, said that her priorities are education funding, mental health, violence prevention, and protecting the rights of women.
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There is a special election for the District 45 seat which will take place on Nov. 7. Dhingra has already become the preferred candidate, though the primary is scheduled for Aug. 1. The seat came vacant when Republican Andy Hill died from lung cancer.
Her candidacy has been endorsed by the 45th District Democrats, Governor Jay Inslee and the influential Democrats up and down the political hierarchy from the national to the local level.
Dhingra, an anti-domestic violence advocate and community leader, is also chair of the King County’s Therapeutic Alternative Unit, supervising the Regional Mental Health Court. She oversees the Veterans Court that serves veterans with disabilities and the Community Assessment and Referral for Diversion program.
Dhingra’s election website highlights her work with the State Department of Social and Human Services, the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, legislators and the Governor’s office to ensure individuals get the needed treatment.
She is considered as a mental health and crisis intervention expert and provides training to law enforcement and has recently started a collaborative effort with King County law enforcement agencies to coordinate response and help avoid tragedy.
She works directly with Harborview Hospital, mental health professionals and the courts to improve criminal justice outcomes for the mentally ill individuals, seeking to close the revolving door of jail, homelessness and crime.
Dhingra has declared her run back in February and it has taken on added importance in light of several incidents of hate crime targeting members of the Sikh faith over the last couple of months.
“We are facing direct attacks on the progress we have made in building a strong economy, a skilled, diverse workforce, great public schools, and the fundamental rights of women and immigrants,” her website says. “To protect what we cherish here on the Eastside, we need new voices committed to equity and inclusion and that are dedicated to breaking through the partisanship and gridlock that has held us back from reaching our full potential.”
Dhingra’s biography says that she had recognized how often domestic violence in the South Asian community goes unreported. She has co-founded Chaya to counter “systemic” violence through education, prevention and organizing. She has served on the Seattle Police Department Muslim, Arab and Sikh Advisory Council to address the hate crime issues in the region in the wake of 9/11.
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Dhingra is a board member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Eastside, and has received the organization’s highest award.
Prior to becoming a King County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, she has interned with the State Attorney General’s Office in their Criminal Division assisting with Sexually Violent Predator cases. She clerked for Justice Barbara Madsen at the Washington State Supreme Court from September 1997 to June 1998.
She holds a JD from the University of Washington School of Law and Bachelor of Arts degrees in History and Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley. She has been a prosecutor with King County since January 2000.
The 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. She is married to Harjit Singh, a “Distinguished Engineer” at SpaceX.
By Premji
