“I was on the committee that helped raise the minimum wage here in Seattle. I introduced a statewide bill to raise the minimum wage in Washington state my first year in the state senate, and I really believe that raising the federal minimum wage, while not the answer to everything, addresses a lot of the issues at the very bottom.”

American politician

Pramila Jayapal is an American politician and Democrat serving as the U.S. representative from Washington’s 7th congressional district since 2017. She is the first Indian American woman in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the first Asian American to represent Washington at the federal level. She represents most of Seattle and parts of suburban King County. Before Congress, she served in the Washington State Senate from 2015 to 2017, representing the 37th legislative district. Her public profile is tied to that legislative work and to her role as a trailblazer in federal politics.