Upendra Chivukula, an Indian American member of the New Jersey state assembly, plans to run for US Congress with the hope of unseating Republican Leonard Lance, who is seeking a third term.
Chivukula, a 10-year assembly veteran who chairs the Telecommunications and Utilities Committee, is the state’s first and only Indian-American lawmaker. He is also a former mayor and councilman in Franklin Township.
Only two Indian Americans have served in the US House of Representatives to date. Dalip Singh Saund was the first Asian immigrant to be elected to Congress in 1956 from California. He was re-elected to a 2nd and 3rd term, winning over 60 percent the votes.
Louisiana governor Bobby was the second Indian American elected to Congress in 2004. Jindal secured reelection in 2006 with 88 percent of the vote, but quit in 2007 when he was elected governor.
“If you look at the Congress, there’s a 10 percent approval rating,”
Chivukula, 61, an electrical engineer who moved to the United States from India when he was 24, was quoted as saying by nj.com
Chivukula said he wants to run “given all the debacles that happened last year because of the stalemates in Congress and the lack of focus on how we can come out of this recession and create jobs and the economy.”
“With my background I think I can contribute to having some discussion and making a difference,” he said.
Chivukula said he does not know if anyone else is seeking the Democratic nomination to run against Lance.
If he wins the nomination, he faces an uphill battle in the November election as the 7th District, once competitive, got more friendly for Republicans after a state commission redrew congressional district lines in December.
“Well, unless you try you never know,” said Chivukula.
Upendra Joge Chivukula – A short Biography
Born on October 8, 1950) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2002, where he represents the17th Legislative District.
In 2001, Chivukula became the first Indian-American elected to the New Jersey General Assembly and the fourth Indian-American in the United States to be elected to state office.
Chivukula has been the Assembly’s Deputy Speaker since 2007. He serves in the Assembly on the Telecommunications and Utilities Committee (as Chair) and the Appropriations Committee.
Assemblyman Chivukula previously served on the Franklin Township Council, joining in 1997, and serving as its Mayor of Franklin Township, New Jersey in 2000 and its Deputy Mayor in 1998.In Franklin Township, he has also served on the Franklin Township Community Foundation, Finance Oversight Committee, Traffic Management Committee, Fire Prevention Board, Emergency Life Support Delivery, Integrated Communications Committee, Emergency Management, Franklin Township Planning Board, Economic Development Committee, Community / Senior Center Steering Committee and the Bicentennial Celebration Committee. Chivukula has served on the Somerset County Affordable Housing Board of Trustees and the Middlesex County Cultural and Historic Commission. He was appointed by then Governor of New Jersey James Florio to be a Public Member of the New Jersey State Board of Social Work Examiners, where he served from 1994 to 1997.