Sam Arora (Hindi: सैम अरोड़ा; born January 9, 1981) is an American businessman and politician from Montgomery County, Maryland. A Democrat, Arora was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2010, representing the state's 19th district. He was sworn into office on January 12, 2011. He announced in 2013 that he would not seek reelection to a second term.[1]
Arora currently is Vice President for Business Development of the Arora Group, a health care services firm that primarily serves the Department of Defense and U.S. Coast Guard.
Political career
This section appears to be slanted towards recent events. Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective and add more content related to non-recent events.(February 2012)
Arora began working in 1999 as an intern and briefly as a staff assistant to U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) before moving to New York to attend Columbia University, where he began interning on the exploratory campaign for then-First Lady Hillary Clinton and later in her Senate office. He served as an aide to Democratic National Committee chair Terry McAuliffe during the 2003-2004 election cycle before returning to work for Sen. Clinton's campaign committee for Clinton's 2006 re-election campaign and part of her 2008 presidential primary campaign. Arora also served as a legal clerk to Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler and in the criminal appellate division of the U.S. Attorney's Office.[5]
Same-sex marriage
Arora ran for the Maryland House of Delegates on a platform of support for same-sex marriage in Maryland and co-sponsored a bill allowing it early in the 2011 session. A similar bill was filed in the Maryland Senate (SB 116-Civil Marriage Protection Act)[6] and was assigned to the House Judiciary committee, the committee on which Arora serves.
In early March 2011, Arora began backpedaling on his support for the legislation, removing references to his earlier enthusiasm for same-sex marriage from his campaign's Twitter account and privately telling the bill's sponsor, Del. Kumar Barve, that he would vote against it once it reached the House floor.[7][8] This abrupt reversal angered many of Arora's supporters in progressive and gay rights circles, prompting several to express disappointment and requests to refund their campaign donations.[9]
After several days, Arora again changed his position, announcing on his website that he would formally support the measure so voters could decide the issue in a referendum.[10] During the House Judiciary committee voting session on SB 116, Arora did not participate in the vote for the bill. SB 116 was approved by the committee 12-10 and was to be forwarded to the full House of Delegates for final approval.[11]
Arora voted against civil marriage rights for same-sex couples when the full House of Delegates voted in the following year on February 17, 2012. The legislation passed, 72–67.[12] Arora had reportedly been lobbied that same day by Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement, Kal Penn, former President Bill Clinton (whose wife, Hillary, Arora used to work for), and longtime Democratic party leader and advisor Terry McAuliffe who all supported the law.[13][14] Arora has not given any explanation for why he reversed his position from co-sponsoring a marriage equality bill to opposing it.
Six Democrats filed for delegate and, in the Democratic primary election held on September 14, Arora won a place on the Democratic ticket for the general election along with incumbent Benjamin F. Kramer and Bonnie Cullison.[15]
Name
Votes
Percent
Outcome
Ben Kramer
7,603
26.3%
Won
Bonnie Cullison
6,083
21.1%
Won
Sam Arora
5,767
20.0%
Won
Jay Hutchins
4,559
15.8%
Lost
Hoan Dang
3,277
11.3%
Lost
Vivian Scretchen
1,600
5.5%
Lost
2010 general election
In the general election, the three Democratic nominees faced two Republican candidates, and the Democratic team won in a landslide with Arora placing second.[16]
Name
Votes
Percent
Outcome
Ben Kramer, Democrat
23,526
25.8%
Won
Sam Arora, Democrat
22,242
24.4%
Won
Bonnie Cullison, Democrat
21,795
23.9%
Won
Linn Rivera, Republican
11,929
13.1%
Lost
Tom Masser, Republican
11,362
12.5%
Lost
Personal
In 2006, Arora was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" on Capitol Hill by The Hill newspaper, which wrote that he "bears an uncanny resemblance to actor Ben Stiller."[17]
The 2010 election of Arora and Aruna Miller along with the re-election of Majority Leader Kumar P. Barve made Maryland the first state in the United States to elect more than one Indian American to a state legislature.[18]