 Just two weeks out of law school, Chaudhary ran for the Minnesota House of Representatives in the July 1995 special election for the District 52A legislative seat, in a Minneapolis suburban area that includes parts of Fridley and New Brighton and all of Columbia Heights and Hilltop.Chaudhary lost the race, but later defeated the winner, Republican incumbent Skip Carlson in a 1996 rematch.At the time he was elected, Chaudhary became the first Asian-American member of the Minnesota Legislature, and the fourth Indian-American elected to a state legislature in U.S. history.