Politician with Armenian roots raises $7.6 million ahead of U.S. Senate race

American politician of Indian and Armenian descent Sara Gideon has raised $7.6 million in a bid to enter the race for the United States Senate from the state of Maine, Outlook India reports.

Gideon, 48, daughter of an Indian-American father and second generation Armenian mother, is currently the Speaker of the Maine State Assembly.

She hopes to challenge Republican Senator Susan Collins in the November Congressional elections.

Gideon’s campaign office said that she raised $3.5 million in the last quarters ending on December 31, taking her total to $7.6 million.

Sara grew up in a family of immigrants. Her father is a pediatrician who immigrated to America from India, and her mother is a second-generation American whose parents escaped the Armenian genocide. Sara graduated from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and went on to have a successful career as an advertising account executive for a nationally renowned newspaper. In 2012, she was elected to represent her community in the Maine House, and she is now serving her fourth term. Sara is serving her second term as speaker of the House, presiding over all actions of the House of Representatives. She lives in Freeport with her husband Ben and their three children.