In his campaign literature, Gandhi said that early exposure to such altruism led to his own philanthropic efforts: Ensuring access to clean water for the poor during his time as a Fulbright scholar, and a later focus on nutrition for impoverished families as an Albert Schweitzer fellow in Boston. "People who don’t understand the details of it think he’s not for universal health care, and that is absolutely not the case," Ellison said, alluding to Gandhi's medical background. He has leaned hard on his experience on the front lines of the pandemic to bolster his argument that Congress needs more doctors — and to assert a unique vantage point on health care and other issues that the virus has brought into sharp relief.More recently, Gandhi countered with his own endorsement from a former White House hopeful: U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who called Gandhi a "progressive fighter who can win." I understand that Pritesh would like to use that foundation to launch his own political career, and he has a right to do that, but I think voters of this district ... know the work I've been doing the last three years. Gandhi has been the top fundraiser, raising $1.2 million to over $864,000 for Siegel as of June 24. He also touted his legal representation on behalf of immigrant families, firefighters, low-income renters and those advocating for common-sense gun regulations during his time as an attorney in Austin.Siegel had 54.5 percent of the vote versus 45.6 percent of the vote for Gandhi. "Waiting in the general election is McCaul, who won his March primary unopposed. Austin civil rights attorney Mike Siegel and Austin physician Pritesh Gandhi will face off in a May 26 runoff for the Democratic nomination in a congressional district that … ""Ultimately we can't make the change we need to make if we can’t put leaders in office," Gandhi said in an interview. Democrats zero in on health care and electability in final days of race to challenge U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul. TX10: Mike Siegel vs. Pritesh Gandhi (in 2018 Indivisible Austin endorsed Mike Siegel) TX17: Rick Kennedy vs. David Jaramillo (in 2018 Indivisible Austin endorsed Rick Kennedy) TX31: Christine Mann vs. Donna Imam (in 2018 Indivisible Austin endorsed Christine Mann) Travis County Attorney: Laurie Eiserloh vs. Delia Garza "I just really think that Mike’s imagination for what our country can be is much bigger and bolder than Gandhi’s," Gill said, adding that Siegel is "not naive" about the challenges his agenda would face in Congress but that he believes in setting bigger policy goals from the outset.
His campaign announced Tuesday that he raised "nearly" $540,000 in the second quarter and ended the period with over $1.2 million cash on hand, dwarfing the reserves of Gandhi and Siegel.
Gandhi, who also lives in Austin, is associate chief medical officer at People's Community Clinic in East Austin.
"We outperformed everybody's expectations, and some jobs take longer than one electoral cycle," Siegel said. Greg Abbott because of the coronavirus.But the incumbent, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, has eight times more money in the bank than Siegel, a war chest that he, unlike the Democrats, can direct entirely toward the fall campaign.At the end of April, McCaul had just over $1 million in the bank.Siegel, an Austin attorney, raised $212,344 in the first quarter and had $125,465 in cash on hand. Returning candidate Mike Siegel (who narrowly lost to McCaul in 2018) begins with a lead, at 44%, over Dr. Pritesh Gandhi, at 33%.