Biography
Varun Nikore serves as President of the AAPI Victory Fund a Super PAC focused on mobilizing the Asian American electorate and endorsing candidates. Varun also serves as Executive Director of AAPI Progressive Action, a national AAPI advocacy organization.
Mr. Nikore also serves as Managing Director of Red Fort Strategies, a public affairs and government relations firm, specializing in assisting corporations, non-profits, government agencies, unions and others in achieving success with the Asian American community.
For the past several years, Mr. Nikore has served as Senior Vice President-International for TriPolus, a facilitator of international business.
In 1999, Mr. Nikore was appointed by President Bill Clinton as Special Assistant to the U.S. Department of Education. Mr. Nikore has been active in Democratic politics for decades, having founded and served as the President of the Indian American Leadership Initiative, the largest Indian American network of Democrats in the U.S. In 2008, Mr. Nikore served as a Transportation Policy Advisor for Obama for America. In 2012, he served as co-Chair of the Small Business Owners Council for the Democratic National Committee. Mr. Nikore currently serves the Boards of the Virginia Commercial Spaceflight Authority and the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority. Mr. Nikore served on the Board of the Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia after having served as past President of the organization.
Articles, Publications, and Appearances
Op-eds
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Building the Political Voice of the AAPI Voting Community (Morning Consult, June 6, 2017)
In the News
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Democrats hope to turn Texas blue — in part by banking on Asian Americans (NBC News, September 4, 2020)
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PAC commits to $1 million in Texas spending to boost Asian American voter turnout (Houston Chronicle, August 26, 2020)
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Harris’ Indian Heritage Could Boost Biden With Asian-American Voters (US News, August 13, 2020)
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Who Are Asian Americans Supporting In California? (FiveThirtyEight, February 20, 2020)
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Will Virginia Democrats Create a Blue Gerrymander? (Slate, November 8, 2019)
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Andrew Yang and Shane Gillis Remain Mum on Planned Meeting (Fortune Magazine, October 8, 2019)
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Asian American and Pacific Islander voters favor Biden, Sanders and Warren, according to new poll (NBC News, September 9, 2019)
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Democratic presidential candidates expected to attend forum in Orange County later this year (Orange County Register, April 10, 2019)