Indian-American Raj Mukherji wins local body polls in New Jersey

NEW YORK: A rising Indian-American political figure has won local body elections in the US state of New Jersey, becoming one of the youngest people to do so.

Kolkata-born Raj Mukherji, a former Jersey City Deputy Mayor, won the State Assembly elections to New Jersey's 33rd Legislative District.

Mukherji, 29, a first-time Democratic nominee for the 33rd Legislative District, had won the primary election in June by a 36-point margin.

Mukherji got 18,586 votes and will represent the 33rd Legislative District, which covers Hoboken, Union City, Weehawken and parts of Jersey City, local officials said.

The former Jersey City Deputy Mayor is the son of Indian American immigrants and has had a stellar rise in the political arena.

According to information provided by his website, Mukherji supported himself through high school, college and grad school as an emancipated minor when his parents were forced to return to India due to economic constraints.

His father Asim Mukherji was an accountant who could not work because of health reasons and could not afford health coverage without employment.

From March 2012 through June 2013, Mukherji served as one of the two Deputy Mayors of Jersey City, New Jersey's second largest city.

He had also founded an internet consulting and software development company while in middle school.

Following the September 11 attacks in New York, Mukherji joined the US Marines at age 17, where he served in military intelligence for the Marine Corps Reserve.

At 19, he co-founded a public affairs firm that he grew into the state's third-largest lobbying firm.

At age 24, Mukherji was appointed the youngest Commissioner and Chairman in the history of the Jersey City Housing Authority.