Indian-American running for Congress seat in New Jersey

WASHINGTON: A 30-year-old Indian-American Democratic social worker is running for the US House of Representatives from New Jersey which is known to be a strong Republican bastion.

Peter Jacob, a staunch supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont, was elected unopposed in the Democratic primary on June 7.

He is seeking to unseat incumbent Leonard Lance of the Republican party who has represented Congressional District 7 of New Jersey since 2009.

This is the same Congressional district from where Upendra Chivukula – the first Indian-American to be elected to the New Jersey State Assembly – tried his luck in 2012 and lost to Lance by more than 50,000 votes.

Another Indian-Americans Thomas Abraham ran as an independent in 2008 and got less than one per cent of the votes.

The 7th Congressional District of New Jersey is said to be a strong Republican bastion. The party has retained this seat for the last 100 years, except for six years between 1975-1981.

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