She was born in Kollam, India and moved with her parents to Juneau, Alaska when she was 6 years old. She is the first female mayor of Montesano and first Indian-American female mayor in America, elected last November with 67 percent of the vote and with one of the highest voter turnouts in Washington State. In 2000, the Washington State Democratic Party named her a Rising Star. The former chair of the Grays Harbor Democrats, Samuel was a national delegate for Barack Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She served eight years on the Montesano City Council, was a former columnist for the Aberdeen Daily World and recently completed her term on Western Washington University’s Alumni Association Board of Directors. She also served as an elder board member and Sunday school teacher at the Montesano Church of God. Samuel and her husband have one son.