IndiaPost.com - Upendra Chivukula wins; Seema Singh loses

India Post News Service

NEW JERSEY: Upendra Chivukula, incumbent Assemblyman from New Jersey’s 17th District, established his unstinted popularity in his constituency by winning the State legislative seat for the fourth consecutive term in the Nov 6 election. Chivukula polled a total of 15,411 votes, winning with a 30% lead over his political rival M. House.

Chivukula also serves as Deputy Speaker, a post to which he was appointed earlier this year and Chair of the powerful Telecommunications and Utilities Committee of the New Jersey General Assembly. As a long time resident of Franklin Township, Assemblyman Chivukula enjoys the rare distinction of being the first resident of Franklin Township to be elected to the New Jersey State Assembly — after a gap of 100 years.

He won the 2007 legislative elections with an over 30 percent lead over his rival from New Jersey’s District 17 - a constituency that is 51 percent Caucasian, 19 percent African American, 16 percent Hispanic and 14 percent of other communities including only 7 percent South Asian. Chivukula has served on the Franklin Township Council since 1997, serving as its Deputy Mayor in 1998 and as Mayor in 2000. His earlier successful bids for the NJ General Assembly were in 2001, 2003 and 2005.

Although Chivukula’s string of successes demonstrates his acceptance as all-American, he recognizes his responsibility to his community in his capacity as the first and only Indian-American elected to the New Jersey Assembly. He fulfils what he accepts as a special responsibility to represent the issues and concerns of the Indian-American community of New Jersey, home to the highest number of Indian-Americans in the nation.

While Chivukula’s victory was a foregone conclusion, a keenly watched run among other Indian Americans who were running for various offices, was that of former Ratepayer Advocate of New Jersey Seema M. Singh. Seema Singh lost her bid for a Senate seat in New Jersey’s 14th district. She suffered a crushing defeat by Republican Bill Baroni - 63% to 37%. Singh’s undoing could be the result of the negative media attention she had been receiving in the weeks prior to the election. Mainstream media in New Jersey has been reporting on alleged ethics violations by Singh during her term as rate counsel such as using a clerk as a driver and rehiring a retired employee who was receiving pensions from the NJ State Government at a salary of $125 an hour - paying her over $500,000 in 3 years.

Another South Asian American contender, Wasim Khan, who also ran for New Jersey State Senate (District 26) lost with 34 percent of the votes (13,308 votes). While on New Jersey, Dr. Sudhanshu Prasad, who ran on the Democratic slate for Edison City Council, won (6,251 votes) along with his fellow contenders AnneMarie Griffin-Ussak, Melissa Perilstein and Wayne Mascola.

The Democratic candidates in Edison found double victory when the question on the proposed ward system for Edison, which they opposed, was also defeated by voters. Elsewhere in the country, Shilen Patel, who ran for an At-Large seat in Emeryville, California, won with an impressive 21 percent vote for a first-time challenger. An environmental consultant by profession, Patel has lived in Emeryville less than two years, but had strong endorsements from labor, and ran a well-organized, aggressive campaign targeted at improving city schools and adding more family friendly amenities and services.

Patel, a progressive 29 year old from the Bay area, makes history considering the fact that the Emeryville, which is 25% Asian, has never elected an Asian-American, let alone an Indian-American, to its City Council. In Houston, Neeta Sane has been elected as a Trustee to the Houston Community College. A local newspaper said Sane emerged from a field of little-known candidates for an open seat on Houston Community College’s governing board. Sane, who owns a software company, was quoted as saying that the board should set policy but not micromanage — a frequent criticism of the trustees. She also said the college needs to raise its profile in the southwest Houston suburbs. Meanwhile, Manisha Mehta, a small business owner who ran for Houston City Council District E lost with 15 percent of the votes. The seat was open with the incumbent retiring.