Suja would be the first Indian-American elected to the California Legislature. With her 16 years of experience in the water industry and her experience as a single mother, Suja would be a champion for the environment, as well as for California women and their families.

State Assembly – California’s 70^th District – Open Seat. Suja is running against Patrick O’Donnell, an opponent of a clean economy for California. O’Donnell voted against Suja’s plastic bag ban and wavered in his support for the Port of Long Beach’s Clean Air Action Plan. With low turnout expected in a midterm year, this race could be decided by just a few hundred votes.

Suja was elected to Long Beach Board of Education in 2001.

In 2006, Suja was elected to the Long Beach City Council and has served continuously since then.

She also served as Long Beach’s Vice Mayor from 2010-2012.

She created Long Beach’s innovative Downtown Plan, incentivizing high-density, transit-oriented development to reduce greenhouse gasses; championed best-in-the-nation bicycle infrastructure that increased bicycle traffic by 33% and decreased vehicle traffic by 12%; passed a low-impact development ordinance to conserve water and reduce pollution; and banned single-use plastic bags.

Additionally, Suja worked in the City of Los Angeles Department of Aging and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office as the Coordinator of its Domestic Violence Unit.

Currently, she serves in a management capacity at the City of Santa Monica’s transit agency, the Big Blue Bus.