ElectConnect wins Rep. Suhas Subramanyam’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Virginia’s 10th District
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam has named Saurish Tripathi, Gautam Annamalai, and Jacob Percy of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Virginia’s 10th District. Their app ElectConnect is a civic engagement app that connects voters directly to their representatives and simplifies access to reliable election information.
When asked what inspired the creation of ElectConnect, the students said, “We were inspired to create ElectConnect after realizing how difficult it can be for people, especially first-time voters, to find clear, unbiased, and trustworthy political information. Many voters struggle to understand where candidates truly stand, how reliable certain sources are, or how political bias shapes what they read online. We wanted to build something that makes civic engagement simpler and more transparent. We aimed to create an app that helps users question the validity of political claims, find feasible and easy-to-understand information about their candidates, and see all the articles they’re interested in, along with insights on the bias and framing behind each one. ElectConnect was also inspired by real experiences with confusion and misinformation during election seasons. By combining technology, personalization, and transparency, we wanted to help people cut through political noise and focus on facts that actually matter. Ultimately, our goal was to empower voters to make informed choices and feel confident in the democratic process, turning civic confusion into civic participation.”
The 2025 Congressional App Challenge marked another record-setting year for the program. A total of 394 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives hosted App Challenges in their congressional districts, the highest level of participation in the program’s history. More than 13,800 students from across the country participated, submitting over 4,600 original apps focused on real-world challenges ranging from health and accessibility to education, sustainability, and civic engagement.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives that encourages middle school and high school students to learn to code, explore computer science, and build practical technology solutions for their communities. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and winning teams are invited to showcase their projects to Members of Congress, staff, and industry leaders at the annual #HouseOfCode celebration on Capitol Hill.
The Challenge is proudly bipartisan and reflects a shared commitment to expanding access to STEM education and preparing the next generation of American innovators for the future workforce. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Infosys Foundation USA, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2026 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.