I’ll Be Back, Saujani Says

Reshma Saujani isn’t focusing on the fact that she lost the battle for the 14th Congressional district seat against incumbent Carolyn Maloney. She’s already planning her next run for the position.

“I’m definitely running again. What we built was a movement,” she told The Local East Village at The Press Box bar on the Upper East Side, where she held her election night party yesterday. “There’s no way I’m going to be one of those folks who runs, loses, and you never see them again. We started something, and we’re going to finish it.”

Reshma Saujani, Primary Election Night, 9/14/10Suzanne Rozdeba Reshma Saujani.

Ms. Saujani, 34, who rents in the East Village, took 19 percent (6,231 votes) of the vote to 81 percent (26,303 votes) for Ms. Maloney, a long-time incumbent.

Ms. Saujani said she was proud and moved by yesterday’s experience.

“One of the things we spent time on was getting out the Bangladeshi community,” said Ms. Saujani, who is Indian-American. “To see people who’ve never voted before go to the polls was amazing.”

About 200 people cheered loudly when she walked into her election night party around 11:30 p.m. She fought tears during her concession speech.

“We ran against the establishment, did what nobody thought we should do,” she told her supporters. “Regardless of the outcome, all of us are victorious.”

Badrun Khan, 38, president of the Jalalabad Association of America Inc., a nonprofit group focused on the Bangladeshi community in Queens, said she and other South Asians want someone from their community in Congress.

“We want change, fresh blood,” Ms. Khan said. “The biggest change Reshma can bring is immigration reform. Nobody’s been doing anything about it. Reshma is focused on Queens, which means a lot to us. Our community supports her.”

Milan Saha, 33, a Manhattan tax lawyer, said, “I like the chutzpah that it takes to just run. She was just like, ‘Why not?’ She speaks to us about developing business in the city, about start-up companies, and knocking off people who are not coming up with fresh ideas and sitting on their laurels. She’s young and energetic. I went to a fund raiser, heard her speak and was inspired. I’m not going to jump off her bandwagon just because she loses once.”

This post has been changed to correct an error.