The Globe has learned that vegasdesi.com, the only South Asian publication in Las Vegas, has abandoned Democratic Rep. Susie Lee and endorsed her GOP rival, April Becker, in the race for Congressional District 3 (CD-3). In 2018 and 2020 vegasdesi.com endorsed Lee. According to their 2022 general election endorsements, they are supporting both Democrats and Republicans in both state and federal elections.

The editor of vegasdesi.com, Swadeep Nigam, issued this statement to The Globe:

Our endorsement is a non-partisan process by closely monitoring candidates’ political, economic, and social platforms. In 2018 and 2020, vegasdesi endorsed Congresswoman Susie Lee as our panel firmly believed that her opponents, Republicans Danny Tarkanian in 2018 and Dan Rodimer in 2020, were too extreme for the highly educated and prosperous South Asian community.

Moreover, then-candidate Congresswoman Lee talked about immigration reforms, specifically H1B work visas. Many of our community members work in high-tech industries with advanced college degrees. They are in the US legally on work visas and have to wait over 15+ years to get their US residency. However, once elected, Congresswoman Lee, the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the House have ignored the H1B visa reforms. Democrats, from the White House to Senate and House, are seemingly obsessed with undocumented immigrants and have forgotten the plight of tax-paying non-immigrants in high-paying jobs on work visas. Many of whom are job creators.

Additionally, the current economic conditions, from inflation to expected economic recession, broken borders, and colossal budget deficit under Democrats, leave no choice but to elect new leaders with divergent economic thoughts for the betterment of all Southern Nevadans.

Ms. Becker appears to be in the mainstream compared to some of the prior opponents that faced off against Susie Lee. Accordingly, her candidacy is both appealing and necessary to balance the current power distribution in Washington, D.C. Nevada will benefit from having both Republicans and Democrats advocating for our state in the nation’s capital.  For this reason, vegasdesi.com supports April Becker.

April Becker told The Globe: “The South Asian community is a vital part of our district and I am honored to earn the endorsement of the Vegas Desi. I cannot wait to represent you and fight for you in Congress.”

The race between Rep. Lee and Becker is a “toss-up” according to the Cook Political Report. Other polls are showing Becker with a two to three point lead over Lee and Becker is gaining ground with Latino voters. CD-3 is also the second most expensive “toss up” House race in the country. A total of $31.4 million has been spent this election cycle in the race between Democratic Rep. Susie Lee and GOP challenger April Becker. This past week alone, Republicans have spent $1.7 M to Democrats $1.5 M to unseat Lee.