{{short description|American politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Raj Goyle | state_house = Kansas | district = 87th | term_start = January 8, 2007 | term_end = January 10, 2011 | predecessor = Bonnie Huy | successor = Joseph Scapa | birth_name = Rajeev Kumar Goyle | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1975|6|9}} | birth_place = Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | party = Democratic | spouse = Monica Arora | education = Duke University (BA)<br>Harvard University (JD) | website = {{url|rajgoyle.com|Campaign website}} }} '''Rajeev Kumar Goyle''' (born June 9, 1975) is a Democratic politician who lives in New York. He previously represented the 87th District in the Kansas House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011.<ref>[http://www.21stcenturydems.org/candidates/profiles/raj-goyle] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919181853/http://www.21stcenturydems.org/candidates/profiles/raj-goyle|date=September 19, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://specials.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/05sled1.htm |title=rediff.com: Raj Goyle re-elected to Kansas Legislature |publisher=Specials.rediff.com |date=2008-11-05 |access-date=2010-08-15}}</ref> He was the 2010 Democratic nominee for {{ushr|Kansas|4}}. He serves as co-chair of the 5BORO Institute in New York City.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-21 |title=5BORO Institute Announces Raj Goyle as Board Co-Chair - 5BORO |url=https://fiveboro.nyc/5boro-institute-announces-raj-goyle-as-board-co-chair/ |access-date=2025-09-22 |language=en-US}}</ref> He is currently running to become the New York State Comptroller.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Raj Goyle for New York State Comptroller |url=https://rajgoyle.com/ |access-date=2025-09-22 |website=Raj for NY |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Early life, education and career== {{Unreferenced section|date=February 2026}} Goyle was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Vimal and Krishan Goyle, physicians who immigrated from Bathinda, India, in 1971. The family moved to Wichita, Kansas, when he was nine months old. He attended Wichita Collegiate School, where he was student body president and valedictorian.
Goyle earned a B.A. from Duke University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was a member of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. He later lectured at Wichita State University.
=== Early activities === As a teenager, Goyle helped organize a community recycling initiative and wrote for the ''Wichita Eagle''. During college and law school he interned with public-interest and political organizations and helped found a small technology venture with classmates.
==Kansas House of Representatives== Goyle was a member of the following committees: * Taxation * Vision 2020 * Veterans, Military and Homeland Security (Ranking Member) * Judiciary
Goyle wrote the Kansas Funeral Privacy Act and introduced it on his first day in office, which includes the establishment of a 150-foot buffer zone around funerals one hour before, during and two hours after the end of a service to prevent protestors from engaging in public demonstration. "This bill is designed to protect a constitutional right to privacy during the funeral of a family that's mourning a loved one," Goyle said.<ref>{{cite web|author=Tim Carpenter |url=http://cjonline.com/stories/033007/sta_159657662.shtml |title=Funeral picketing measure approved |publisher=CJOnline.com |date=2007-03-30 |access-date=2010-08-15}}</ref> This was done in reaction to members of the Westboro Baptist Church picketing at the funerals of military casualties of the Iraq invasion and occupation. It became effective on April 10, 2008.<ref>[http://kansasliberty.com/liberty-update-archive/04apr2008/Funeral%20privacy%20act%20rises%20from%20judicial%20grave/ Funeral privacy act rises from judicial grave], KansasLiberty.com, April 3, 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-statutes/getStatute.do?number=12028 Statute 21-4015a] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706175454/http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-statutes/getStatute.do?number=12028 |date=2010-07-06 }} Kansas Legislature</ref>
Goyle said third-party groups who attempt to influence the outcome of elections should be required to publicly disclose information about their finances. Under an amendment offered by Goyle, groups spending more than $500 a year on issue advertisements naming a particular state or local candidate 30 days before a primary or 60 days before a general election would be subject to reveal information about their spending and donors in financial reports being filed with the state. The amendment was opposed by conservatives as a violation of free speech.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
Seven counties in Kansas have no pharmacy, and another 30 have only one each. State Rep. Mike O'Neal, R-Hutchinson, proposed an admendent for University of Kansas pharmacy school expansion, which Goyle supported saying, "This is a priority not just for KU, Lawrence and Wichita, but for the whole state."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2008/03/states-pharmacist-shortage-may-not-wait |title=State's pharmacist shortage may not wait | WE Blog | Wichita Eagle Blogs |publisher=Blogs.kansas.com |date=2008-03-21 |access-date=2010-08-15 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713030343/http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2008/03/states-pharmacist-shortage-may-not-wait |archive-date=2012-07-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Goyle successfully introduced House Bill 2374, which draws down $69 million in federal stimulus dollars for the state's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}} The legislation makes three revisions to the current unemployment insurance statute: * Adopt an alternate wage base period to be used when an individual does not qualify for benefits using the standard wage base period. * Provide benefits to workers seeking part-time employment to qualify for federal stimulus money. * Extend unemployment insurance benefits to cover workers while they receive state-approved job training.
As a state legislator, he listed his priorities as "no free lunches from lobbyists, educating our children, reducing health care costs, real solutions on energy, fighting for immigration reform," and "helping small businesses."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rajforkansas.com/issues |title=Rep. Raj Goyle ''Issues and Ideas'' |access-date=2009-06-29 |archive-date=2009-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611062422/http://www.rajforkansas.com/issues |url-status=usurped }}</ref> According to state ethics officials, Goyle and State Sen. David Wysong, R-Mission Hills, are state lawmakers who received no direct attention from lobbyists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hutchnews.com/Localregional/notebook2008-02-16T21-18-37 |title=The Hutchinson News Online Edition |publisher=Hutchnews.com |date=2008-02-16 |access-date=2010-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609003808/http://www.hutchnews.com/Localregional/notebook2008-02-16T21-18-37 |archive-date=2011-06-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==2010 U.S. Congressional campaign== {{Main|United States House of Representatives elections in Kansas, 2010#District 4}} In 2010, Goyle won the Democratic primary for Kansas’s 4th congressional district and faced Republican nominee Mike Pompeo, among others, in the general election. The race drew national attention; Pompeo later apologized after his campaign account promoted a tweet attacking Goyle’s background. Pompeo won the general election, 58%–36%.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}
== New York career == After the 2010 campaign, Goyle moved to New York City.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=Rebecca C. |date=2025-10-01 |title=Raj Goyle isn’t in Kansas anymore |url=https://www.cityandstateny.com/personality/2025/10/raj-goyle-isnt-kansas-anymore/408538/ |access-date=2026-02-17 |website=City & State NY |language=en}}</ref> In 2011 he joined the Rubin Foundation as a director working across philanthropy, policy, and operations.
In 2014 he co-founded Bodhala, a legal-technology and analytics company that applied data and AI to corporate legal spend. As CEO, he led the company through rapid growth; in September 2021 Bodhala was acquired by Onit, Inc., where it continued to operate as a subsidiary and Goyle served as a senior advisor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Raj Goyle Experience |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/raj-goyle/details/experience/}}</ref>
=== Civic engagement === In 2024, Goyle was appointed co-chair of the board of the 5BORO Institute, a non-partisan New York City policy organization.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-21 |title=5BORO Institute Announces Raj Goyle as Board Co-Chair - 5BORO |url=https://fiveboro.nyc/5boro-institute-announces-raj-goyle-as-board-co-chair/ |access-date=2025-09-22 |language=en-US}}</ref>
Through his nonprofit Phone Free New York, he advocated for statewide policy limiting student cellphone use during the school day; in 2025 the New York State Legislature enacted a “bell-to-bell” classroom phone ban.
=== Boards and community involvement === Goyle has served on the boards of Hunger Free America, the State Innovation Exchange, Everyartist.me, Issue One, New Deal Democrats, and the Planned Parenthood of NYC Action Fund.
== New York State Comptroller campaign == {{See also|2026 New York State Comptroller election}} On September 22, 2025, Goyle announced that he would seek the office of New York State Comptroller in the 2026 election.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-22 |title=NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli gets primary challenge from school phone ban Democratic advocate |url=https://nypost.com/2025/09/22/us-news/nys-comptroller-tom-dinapoli-gets-primary-challenge-from-school-phone-ban-democratic-advocate/ |access-date=2025-09-22 |language=en-US}}</ref> He aims to improve investment returns by "using best-in-class software to identify potential investments" and to invest funds in new affordable housing projects in the state.<ref>{{Cite web |last=David |first=Greg |date=2025-12-02 |title=State Comptroller DiNapoli Faces Rare Primary Challengers |url=https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/02/state-comptroller-dinapoli-faces-rare-primary-challengers/ |access-date=2026-02-17 |website=THE CITY - NYC News |language=en-US}}</ref> Goyle also proposes to divest from fossil fuel investments<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-01-14 |title=Our Vision |url=https://rajgoyle.com/our-vision/ |access-date=2026-02-17 |website=Raj for NY |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> and from Palantir.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Daly |first=Adam |date=2026-01-28 |title=ICE-linked Palantir investment becomes flashpoint in rarely-contested New York state comptroller’s race {{!}} amNewYork |url=https://www.amny.com/news/ice-palantir-investment-new-york-state-comptroller/ |access-date=2026-02-17 |website=amNY |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Personal life== Goyle married attorney Monica Kumari Arora, an attorney and daughter of retired public school teachers in Middletown, Orange County, New York, on July 24, 2004. They have two children and live in Lower Manhattan. After relocating to New York, Goyle’s parents moved to the same neighborhood.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-17 |title=About |url=https://rajgoyle.com/about/ |access-date=2025-09-22 |website=Raj for NY |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20061118063825/http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-house/getDistrictRep.do?district=87 Raj Goyle] ''official Kansas Legislature site'' * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060402225920/http://rajforkansas.com/ Raj Goyle for Congress]}} ''official campaign site'' * {{CongLinks | congbio= | votesmart=67490 | fec=H0KS04077 | congress= }}<!-- Links formerly displayed via the CongLinks template: * [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/uniquecandidate.phtml?uc=8691 Financial information (state office)] at the National Institute for Money in State Politics * --> *[http://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.php?cycle=2010&id=KS04 Campaign contributions] at OpenSecrets.org * [http://kansasvotes.org/Legislator.aspx?ID=15529 Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309131529/http://kansasvotes.org/Legislator.aspx?ID=15529 |date=2012-03-09 }} at Kansas Votes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Goyle, Raj}} Category:1975 births Category:21st-century members of the Kansas Legislature Category:American Hindus Category:American people of Punjabi descent Category:American politicians of Indian descent Category:Asian-American people in Kansas politics Category:Asian-American state legislators Category:Democratic Party members of the Kansas House of Representatives Category:Duke University alumni Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Living people Category:Politicians from Cleveland Category:Politicians from Hutchinson, Kansas Category:Politicians from Wichita, Kansas Category:Wichita State University faculty