BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Navraj Rai still can't believe it's real.
The 32-year-old attorney was sworn in last week as a judge pro tem to the Superior Court of California in Kern County, making him the first Sikh to hold the position in the county's history.
"The amount of support that I have received as a result of this has been overwhelming from other countries, other nations, individuals are writing and sending messages and my phone is just blown up like entirely," Rai said.
A judge pro tem is a private attorney appointed by the court to handle specific cases to relieve overloaded court calendars for quicker resolutions.
During his swearing-in ceremony, Rai said he felt the weight of the moment.
"I was able to look into the audience and I could feel the immense sense of pride that the community had. And I think at that point in time, I finally felt like, okay, this is this moment is bigger than what I thought it was going to be, that this is more of a moment for the community than it is for me," Rai said.
Rai's path to the bench began with a childhood tragedy. He knew he wanted to be an attorney after his parents lost their business.
"It was at that point in time when my parents were giving me these foreclosure notices in the sixth grade and trying to ask me to decipher them, that I realized that I refused to allow this to happen to anybody else. And I think that that's kind of what catapulted me into making sure that something like this doesn't ever happen again," Rai said.
The son of immigrant parents from India, Rai was born in Los Angeles before his family settled in Bakersfield. He graduated from Stockdale High School, then attended UC Davis. In 2018, he graduated from law school at University of the Pacific.
For Rai, his appointment represents something larger than personal achievement.
"I think it's a testament to what's possible here in Kern County. I mean, in America as a whole, just out in a larger scale. But here in Kern County, to see, I think it demonstrates to the public and to the country that, 'Hey, the American dream is alive and well here,'" Rai said.
"For the local Sikh community and for the global Sikh community, it is a humbling honor to see our first judge pro tem here in the Kern County Superior Court," Rai said.
Bakersfield Council Member Manpreet Kaur said this appointment serves as a stepping stone for future generations.
"We hope is that this just encourages more students to see themselves in places of power where they traditionally may not have seen a familiar face, a familiar name even. And so while we may be the first, we never want to be the last," Kaur said.
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