Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Sikh Wins Hoboken Council Seat - North America


Ravinder Singh Bhalla was elected today to be a councilman-at-large for Hoboken, N.J., which gives him the national distinction of holding the highest elected office as a Sikh.

According to the Hudson County clerk's office, Ravinder Singh won nearly 14 percent of the 25,988 votes, statistically tying Carol Marsh for the most votes. He now holds one of three at-large seats, for a four-year term.

Ravinder Singh was part of the slate for mayoral candidate Dawn Zimmer, who won with 36 percent of the 9,986 votes. This election also made Zimmer the first woman and the first Jewish mayor of Hoboken.

Zimmer and her two biggest challengers, Peter Cammarano and Beth Mason, were all council members who oversaw a very unpopular property tax increase last year. She and Ravinder Singh were hoping that voters were not angry with all elected officials, just ones that contributed to the tax increase. Solving the tax and budget crisis became the top campaign issue for Zimmer and Ravinder Singh.

A win for the mayoral candidate usually means a win for the entire slate. But not only did Ravinder Singh win his first election, he won big.

with thanks : source : sikhnn.com

sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com

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