Political Notebook: Gay attorney Dixit wages history-making House bid

Should gay attorney Anuj Dixit win election next November to a Southern California U.S. House seat, he would bring to at least three the number of out members among the Golden State’s congressional delegation. He would also make history as the first LGBTQ Indian American elected to Congress.

And, in his mid-30s, he would be one of the youngest members serving on Capitol Hill. The Democrat is part of a growing group of younger party members running for Congress in the 2026 midterms.

“I have a track record of fighting to defend our democracy. We need a new generation of leadership to do that,” said Dixit, 34, in a recent video interview with the Bay Area Reporter about his candidacy.

The Riverside resident, who lives in his parents’ home along with his maternal grandparents, had launched his House bid in the spring thinking he would be running against conservative Congressmember Ken Calvert (R-Corona) in the state’s 41st Congressional District. It includes the LGBTQ retirement and tourist mecca of Palm Springs, making it one of the few purple House seats in the state.

In the last two election cycles gay Democratic attorney Will Rollins came up short in his bids to oust Calvert from the seat. Dixit had worked on Rollins’ 2022 campaign, serving in a senior adviser role overseeing various duties.

“I was really disappointed to see Will fall short,” said Dixit, who graduated from Columbia Law School. “I am proud to be carrying on that legacy and finish the job.”

Yet, with polls showing California voters likely to pass Proposition 50 in Tuesday’s special statewide election, Dixit will no longer find himself running against Calvert. Rather, the ballot measure will redraw the state’s House districts and put Riverside and the Coachella Valley into the district of Congressmember Darrell Issa (R-Vista).

Democratic legislative leaders and Governor Gavin Newsom elected to put Prop 50 before voters in response to Republican President Donald Trump pushing GOP leaders in Texas and other states to redraw their House maps to favor GOP candidates. The new map Prop 50 would impose on the Golden State’s 2026 House races aims to give Democrats an edge in five more of California’s 52 congressional districts. Currently, 43 are represented by Democrats.

The prospect of seeing Issa forced to run in a redrawn 48th House District that tilts Democratic has drawn the interest of a number of the party’s leaders in the area who now plan to take on the wealthy congressmember next year. Ammar Campa-Najjar, who lost to Issa in 2020, is set to do so, as is bisexual San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, who suspended her 2026 state Senate campaign to enter the House race.

Gay attorney Curtis Morrison was already running against Issa prior to Prop 50 being placed on the ballot, while gay entrepreneur and trained economist Brandon Riker will find himself vying for Issa’s seat if the ballot measure passes. The Palm Springs resident had planned to take on Calvert, but like Dixit, will be redrawn into Issa’s new House district.

Even though House candidates do not need to live in the district they wish to represent, Dixit told the B.A.R. he won’t run against Calvert in the incumbent’s redrawn district. He sees running against Issa as having the same goal as that of his initial decision to try to oust Calvert from office.

“I got into running for Congress to get rid of MAGA members of Congress in Riverside County. That is what I am focused on,” said Dixit, who happens to specialize in election law and has been involved in various lawsuits related to voting matters.

Asked how he felt about the likely pivot in his election plans, with Prop 50 likely requiring him to face a different incumbent than he had planned to run against, Dixit told the B.A.R. that his focus this fall has been helping to see that the ballot measure passes. He sounded unperturbed about Prop 50 shaking up the races for the House seats held by Issa and Calvert.

“First of all, we have to pass Prop 50. That is an incredibly important part of Democrats fighting to have fair maps and to have fair congressional representation,” said Dixit. “In terms of what I am bringing to this race, I have a record of someone who can deliver results. As an attorney who has dedicated my career to protecting fair elections, I have done the work to fight Republican attempts to undermine the basic fabric of what we believe in as Americans.”

While he has been registering impressive fundraising numbers for a first-time candidate, tapping into a diaspora of friends and family across the state, including in Silicon Valley where he held a recent fundraiser  – he had raised $430,000 as of October 1, $7,000 of which came from him, with more than half still in his campaign account – Dixit was trailing Issa and several other Democrats in a poll released this month by Equality PAC, the political arm of the Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus. It had Issa at 41% with von Wilpert at 21%, Riker at 10%, Campa-Najjar at 8%, and Dixit at 4% among the 598 registered voters surveyed. (It had a margin of error of +/- 4%, while the PAC has yet to endorse in the race.)

“This poll confirms what we already know – voters in California’s 48th District are hungry for change,” stated von Wilpert in touting the results.

Her standing in it is hardly surprising, since she is the lone Democrat among the quartet included in the survey results to be a current elected official. Thus, she has more name recognition than the trio of male challengers to Issa included in the polling results.

It does indicate von Wilpert has a strong chance of surviving the June 2 primary, where the top two vote-getters regardless of party will advance to the November election. And because of Prop 50, LGBTQ voters throughout the House district are set to have an impact on which two candidates end up competing next fall for the seat.

So far, Dixit isn’t highlighting his being a member of the LGBTQ community in his bio posted to his campaign website. (Neither for that matter does Riker, while von Wilpert’s campaign site has links to news articles that prominently refer to her as being an out candidate.)

The youngest of two sons in a military family, Dixit grew up on what is now called March Air Reserve Base south of Morena Valley, California. He came out to his parents in his 20s.

“My coming out story had its ups and downs, as is true for many people in our community, but ultimately, you know, I am proud to be part of a supportive family,” said Dixit.

On the campaign trail, he doesn’t shy away from talking about being gay. Another candidate running in the Palm Springs area had told the B.A.R. he’d heard Dixit discuss his personal background at a local gathering the two had attended to promote their candidacies.

Dixit’s campaign had pitched an interview to the B.A.R. by noting he is an “LGBTQ Congressional Candidate” in the subject line. But in preparing to speak with Dixit earlier this month, the B.A.R. found nothing online directly referring to his sexual orientation. He had posted a brief video via his social media accounts of his attending an Equality PAC Pride Gala in June. “It was an incredible evening with LGBTQ allies, and a great and inspiring opportunity! On to the next,” Dixit, who is single, had noted.

Asked about his plans to draw more attention to his potentially pink-political-glass-ceiling-breaking candidacy, Dixit said he is seeking the endorsements of LGBTQ political groups and expects to have a presence at Palm Springs Pride next month.

“I plan to talk to LGBTQ voters and I plan to talk to every voter,” said Dixit, no matter what the boundaries are for the House district he ends up seeking in the coming months.

What won’t change, he said, is his core message focused on the need to elect a congressmember who will address the “affordability crisis” people are facing, whether it be how hard it is to afford a home or the sky-rocketing prices for groceries and other goods. At the moment, the incumbents are more interested in rubber-stamping Trump’s agenda than lowering prices for their constituents, contended Dixit.

“It is one of the reasons why we are going to flip this seat and a big part of what I am focused on,” said Dixit. “Ultimately, we need to make Southern California affordable for middle-class families.”

Family tragedy
Three years before he was born, Dixit’s fraternal grandparents, father’s sister, and two cousins died in the Pan Am 103 bombing on December 21, 1988. There were no survivors aboard the flight headed to New York City that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland. The Libyan government later accepted responsibility after two of its intelligence operatives were charged in the case brought by American and British investigators.

The tragedy left an indelible mark on Dixit.

“I grew up learning about the government fighting for justice for my country. I was really inspired by that, to see my country fight for me and my family,” recalled Dixit.

He also drew inspiration from his father, an Air Force veteran, stepping up to fight and defend the country in determining the professional path he has taken. It is partly why he is now a candidate for public office.

“Running for office has been one of the most meaningful things I have done in my life,” said Dixit. “It is an opportunity to go out and talk to my neighbors about our community, and what we care about, and how we can fight to make sure our country lives up to the values we need it to be upholding. That is energizing and exciting.”

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column reported on LGBTQ groups working to pass Prop 50.

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