New Delhi: Ravinder Bhalla has become the first ever Sikh mayor of New Jersey’s Hoboken city after a stiff competition that turned ugly when he was labeled a terrorist in slanderous flyers. He is the first Sikh to hold elected office in New Jersey.Bhalla was endorsed by current Mayor Dawn Zimmer, who in a surprising decision announced not to run for re-election in June.
Bhalla, who has been on the city council for more than seven years, claimed the victory at Moran’s Pub on Garden Street on Tuesday with dozens of his supporters, as well as his friends and family.
“Thank you Hoboken. I look forward to being your Mayor!,” Bhalla tweeted.
“Thank you for having faith in me, for having faith in our community, faith in our state, and faith in our country; this is what America is all about,” he told his supporters after winning the elections.
“We’ve been through a bruising campaign but now is the time we come together and see who we can work with to bring this city forward,” he said.
