US: Indian-Origin Dimple Ajmera Re-Elected as Charlotte City Councillor At-Large

Dimple Ajmera was the first Asian-American and youngest woman to be elected to the Charlotte City Council in 2017.

Indian American Dimple Ajmera has been re-elected to the position of Councillor at Charlotte, North Carolina City Council. She was previously elected for the same position in 2017 when she became the first Asian-American and youngest woman to be elected to the Charlotte City Council.

Ajmera won against fellow Democrat Braxton Winston in the at-large race held on 27 July 2022 with 16.55 percent of the votes as opposed to Winston's 16.3 percent, as per Charlotte city's local media reports.

Ajmera took to Twitter to express her gratitude towards the voters of Charlotte city and promised to work towards addressing pressing issues such as crime and congestion.

I’m deeply grateful and humbled to have overwhelming support throughout the city for this historic victory. I commit to delivering on the promises I made to address displacement, congestion and crime in our city. I will collaborate with my colleagues to deliver on these promises.

— Dimple Ajmera (@DimpleAjmera) July 28, 2022

Having immigrated to the United States from Gujarat, India, along with her family when she was 16-years-old, Ajmera knew little English when she was in high school. Prior to moving to Charlotte eight years ago to take up a financial service job, Ajmera graduated from the University of Southern California and served as a CPA in Los Angeles.

"As someone who once struggled to speak English, and for someone who is an immigrant, I'm just so grateful for all of the opportunities that have been given to me. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would even serve in public office."

Dimple Ajmera, Councillor At-Large, Charlotte City Council, North Carolina

Even though this election was to be held in November 2021, the city of Charlotte postponed the elections until 2022 due to delays in receiving population data from the US Census.

In 2017, Ajmera was appointed to the City Council to fill a vacant East Charlotte seat. She went on to win citywide seats later on in 2017 and once more in 2019.

In 2020, she lost to Indian American Aaron "Ronnie" Chatterji in the Democratic primaries for the position of North Carolina treasurer.

Ajmera has also been recognised as one of the 50 Most Influential Women in Mecklenburg County by The Mecklenburg Times and named in Charlotte Business Journal's '40 Under 40'.

(With inputs from American Bazaar.)