New Jersey: Indian American attorney Sapana Shah has announced her candidacy for mayor of Edison, New Jersey. She said that she is poised to be the most experienced Democrat running to lead New Jersey’s fifth largest community that is home to one of the nation’s largest Indian American populations. “I am ready to rise to this challenge,” Shah, a former Edison Township Council and Board of Education member, said in a statement.
“My priorities as mayor will be to enacting efficient, proactive ways to stabilize taxes, improve quality-of-life and attract new commercial investments that create more jobs, generate tax revenue and do not burden township services.” Shah boasts that her legal experience, business management and leadership skills make her the best qualified candidate to help her hometown become a stronger, more prosperous place for people to live, raise families and work.
Shah is seeking the Edison Democratic Party’s nomination at its Feb. 24 virtual convention, an endorsement that would put her on the June Primary ballot, the release notes. The city is currently led by Thomas Lankey. Shah has also made a direct appeal for grassroots support to nearly 18,000 registered Democrats. “I want Democratic voters to know they have an experienced choice for mayor who will champion their best interests,” the candidate said.
Nearly half of Edison’s 102,000 residents are Asian, many of them Indian Americans. Shah is proud of her robust advocacy on their behalf, while she previously served on the Township Council and Board of Education, the release says. Shah has convinced Edison public schools to make Diwali an official annual holiday starting in 2012; fought to make Edison a “fair & welcoming community” to protect residents from prejudicial Trump-era anti-immigrant policies; secured a seven-year municipal permit for Central Jersey’s largest India Day Parade; helped community groups obtain garba permits for Navratri festivals; supported the appointment of the school district’s first South Asian principal; pushed the Edison Police Department to hire more qualified minority officers, including three South Asians; and persuaded county prosecutors to classify a 2014 series of violent home invasions, targeting Indian Americans, as hate crimes.
Shah, an attorney in private practice, is also a part-time assistant city counsel for Jersey City, providing legal research and advice, and writing ordinances and resolutions for that city’s government officials. The Indian American lawyer was elected to a four-year Edison Council term in 2014 after serving on the town’s Board of Education from 2011–13.
