For the first time, an Indian-American, Samip Joshi, has been elected as Mayor of Edison, New Jersey. He was born in the US but has roots in Shivrajpur-Halol, Panchamahal, Gujarat.
Joshi faced tough competition with Republican Keith Hahn and independent candidate Christo Makropoulos. He won with 52.76 percent of the votes.
He will be sworn in on January 1, 2022 and will be the township’s youngest Mayor to hold the post.
After the announcement of the results, he took to Facebook to thank his family, friends and supporters.
“I pledge to be a mayor for all of Edison and will work hard every single day to address and solve the issues we’re faced with,” wrote Joshi.
During the election campaign, he stressed on getting the township’s master plan under control and launching municipal broadband to provide a faster and cheaper internet service in town. He further stressed on the need to work with the school board to address the concerns regarding overcrowding.
Samip Joshi originally belongs to Gujarat’s Shirvrajpur in Halol taluka of Panchmahal. His father, Pradeep Joshi along with wife Binaben Joshi and daughter Payal Joshi moved to the US during early 1990s.
Joshi currently serves as the Council Vice President in Edison Township which is the 5th largest municipality in New Jersey. He was elected as an at-large Council member at 27 years old which made him the youngest elected official in Edison’s history. Last year, he advocated to stop the building of warehouses near Silver Lake Avenue which would have increased the local truck traffic around the area.
He completed his education from Rutgers University and got a degree in political science. He was reportedly interested in politics since his high school days. At the age of 14, he began began to get involved in local politics and had worked with three mayors. During his high school years, he remained an active participant in political debates.
He has always been deeply involved in protecting and giving back to the community. While working as an Edison Police 9-1-1 Telecommunicator from 2010-2011, he also worked at the Central Command Office for all the public safety calls including police, fire and EMS.
From 2010-2015 he served on the Fair Rental Housing Authority Board and the Edison Zoning Board from 2016 until he was elected to the Edison Township Council.
Many Many congratulations.
We have proud for the brilliant success.
We pray God for further progress.