Raja Krishnamoorthi for Illinois lieutenant governor

Raja Krishnamoorthi, who lost the party primary for comptroller of Illinois, US, earlier this year by a whisker, last week submitted his application to the Democratic State Central Committee to be considered as the party's lieutenant governor nominee.

'I am a Democrat because the Democratic Party has never settled for the status quo,' Krishnamoorthi wrote in his application. 'The party has always believed that government can be a force for good and that no one should be left behind.'

He emphasised his appeal as a lieutenant governor nominee with a strong electoral performance in the primary for Comptroller in the two key battlegrounds for the November general election: the Chicago suburbs and Downstate.

Krishnamoorthi, who garnered roughly 384,000 votes statewide but lost the Democratic nomination by less than 1 per cent of the votes cast, won 22 out of the 30 Cook County suburban townships with a 52 to 41 percent margin of victory. He swept all of the Chicago collar counties, including DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, Kendall and McHenry by a total of 60 to 33 percent votes.

He believes when the Illinois democratic state central committee meets later this month to select the nominee, Democrats will have an opportunity to change the game by selecting him. Meanwhile, thousands of Indian Americans are rallying to put Krishnamoorthi on the November ballot as Governor Pat Quinn's running mate.

Over the course of two weeks, more than 10,000 supporters signed a petition organised by the Indo-American Democratic Organisation to put Krishnamoorthi on the ballot.

'If not now, when,' asked Pramod Shah, a former IADO president, a Niles Township Trustee and Skokie village board member.

'No one is better qualified to be Lt governor than Raja,' said Sainath Reddivary, IADO secretary. 'He is an engineer who can help Governor Quinn with infrastructure issues, and an expert on financial matters.'

But the spirited campaign by members of the community doesn't necessarily mean Krishnamoorthi will get the ticket. Sources had told this correspondent earlier this month that a lot of lobbying was on for the position. "What is going on now is a game of insiders within the party and no one is sure if Raja will be selected," a source said.