MEET ASH
Ash Kalra represents the 25th Assembly District which encompasses the majority of San José. In 2016 he became the first Indian American to serve in the Legislature and was re-elected to his fifth term in 2024. Ash has called San José home since moving to California at a young age. He still resides in the South San José neighborhood where he grew up. In that time, he has developed a passion for serving his neighbors and making sure that our government is solving problems – not creating them.
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Ash has been one of the foremost advocates of clean energy and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels while preserving our open spaces and protecting our surrounding habitat. Ash has been a voice for criminal justice and public safety, solving our housing and homelessness crisis, improved public transportation, access to affordable health care and a healthier environment.
As the Chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, Ash has successfully united labor and business leaders to pass groundbreaking legislation that protects the rights of both
workers and employers. To fix injustices in our courts, he passed a law allowing a person charged or convicted of a crime to challenge racial bias if their case warrants it.​
Prior to serving in the Assembly, Ash was elected to the San José City Council, where he fought against cuts to public safety including standing up in favor of restoring the SJPD burglary unit and Violent Crimes Enforcement Team, worked to provide incentives for companies to locate and grow in San Jose and has been a champion for more transit options including the BART to Silicon Valley extension.
Prior to elected office, Ash was an attorney for the Santa Clara County Public Defender's Office for 11 years. Most of his time was spent in drug treatment court where clients were given the opportunity to complete a rehabilitation program and turn their lives around. In addition, Ash served on numerous non-profit boards, including Somos Mayfair, the Asian Law Alliance, the South Asian Bar Association, Fresh Lifelines for Youth and the Santa Clara County Bar Association. Ash also helped to found the Hayes Neighborhood Association in the neighborhood in which he grew up and still lives today.
Ash has been a law professor at Lincoln Law School of San José. Previously, he also taught at San José State University and at inner city Washington, DC high schools.
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Ash Kalra earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Law Degree from Georgetown University.
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