"As the child of immigrants from India, I am proud to have earned the support of Second Generation. The First Senate District is increasingly diverse and comprised of immigrants from all over the world. As a child, I learned the importance of hospitality, refuge, and asylum, and the need to have solidarity among immigrants and people of color, regardless of documentation. I'm committed to fighting xenophobia, racism, and ignorance at a local level, and to expanding the public goods and services available to all people."
- Nikil Saval
ENDORSED FOR Pennsylvania State Senate, 1st District
Nikil is a father, husband, writer, and community organizer, and the son of Indian immigrants.
Nikil Saval is an acclaimed author and thought leader on issues ranging from architecture to labor and employment. A longtime community organizer and co-founder of Reclaim Philadelphia, Saval has successfully built diverse coalitions to advance progressive candidates and issues across Philadelphia.
In 2009, Nikil organized boycotts with UNITE HERE against luxury hotel developers to fight for the rights of housekeepers. In 2013, he won back jobs for 1,000 cafeteria workers and noontime aides who had been laid off because of Corbett’s budget cuts to the Philadelphia School District. In 2016 he was a leader in the Bernie Sanders campaign and he co-founded Reclaim Philadelphia. In 2018, he organized campaigns to fight for change in the Democratic Party and was elected as ward leader of the Second Ward, becoming the first Asian American in city history to be elected as a Democratic ward leader.
As a State Senator of Pennsylvania, Nikil would support:
Universal Family Care - a social insurance program that guarantees access to child care, long-term elder care, and paid care leave
A Homes Guarantee - a proposal to build, preserve, or convert affordable, no-carbon housing through the use of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Redevelopment Assistance Capitalization Program (RACP) grants, and New Market Tax Credits, among other funding sources
Green New Deal for PA - a plan to set swift and responsible targets, including eliminating coal-generated electricity by 2025, achieving 100% clean electricity by 2035, and 100% clean energy economy-wide by 2050
A stabilization of school infrastructure, including emergency funding legislation, revising RACP money as a source of potential funding, raising salaries of teachers and paraprofessionals, and channelling all school funding through a more robust fair funding formula to address old structural inequalities
Ending mass incarceration and seeking the abolition of the prison system, beginning with a cap on sentencing for felonies and misdemeanors and ending mandatory minimums
Nikil lives in South Philadelphia with his wife Shannon and his son, Ishaan.
Visit nikilsaval.com for more info.