Mayor Ravi Bhalla Announces His Candidacy for State Assembly in NJ’s 32nd Legislative District
Mayor Ravi Bhalla Announces His Candidacy for State Assembly in NJ’s 32nd Legislative District
Mayor of Hoboken Ravi Bhalla today announced his candidacy for the State Assembly in the 32nd district. He will be running in the Democratic Primary.
“As a two-term mayor, I believe Trenton needs more mayors who get things done. In the State Assembly, I will fight to ensure that New Jersey leads the way on curbing both traffic fatalities and climate change, and address the housing crisis that is squeezing so many residents in Jersey City, Hoboken and throughout the state,” said Mayor Bhalla. “With Donald Trump back in the White House and the Republicans in control of both houses of Congress, the role of states and cities is more important now than ever. We are the laboratories of democracy that will move our state and country forward.”
Mayor Bhalla would bring the same innovative leadership to the State Assembly that has earned Hoboken national recognition as a leader in pedestrian safety, climate change and standing up for our democratic, inclusive values.
Taking leadership on making Hoboken a safer place to walk, bike and drive, Mayor Bhalla launched and implemented its Vision Zero program. As a result, today, January 15th, marks the 8th year Hoboken has gone without a single pedestrian fatality in the city. This initiative was lauded by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as a nation-wide model for safe streets.
Hoboken is one of only 10 cities around the world to receive an “A” rating from the environmental impact non-profit, CDP for its climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives. The initiatives range from providing plentiful electrical vehicle charging options to creating state of the art resiliency parks designed with infrastructure to combat flooding. This year, under the mayor’s leadership, Hoboken was the 1st in the State of New Jersey to establish a separate Department of Climate Action & Innovation.
He has consistently spoken out against discrimination, racism, antisemitism and intolerance whenever it surfaced, working to make Hoboken a city in which the democratic values of equality of opportunity and fair treatment are honored. For 7 straight years in a row, Hoboken has received a perfect 100% score from the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Municipal Equality Index (MEI) for its LGBTQIA+ inclusive policies and laws.
Bhalla has been a leader on state issues that have impacted Hoboken, Jersey City and the region, including strongly opposing NJ Transit rate hikes, the turnpike expansion, the commercialization of Liberty State Park and the gutting of the state open records law (OPRA).
Elected as Mayor in 2017 and re-elected in 2021, Bhalla served on the Hoboken City Council from 2010 to 2017, serving as Council President for part of his tenure. Nationally recognized for his work as a civil rights attorney, he led a successful campaign to reform the federal government’s visitation policies at correctional facilities nationwide.
He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, received a Master’s Degree from the London School of Economics and earned his law degree at Tulane Law School. He and his wife Bindya live in Hoboken with their two children, Arza Kaur, age 17, and Shabegh Singh, age 13. The son of immigrants who came to the United States from India to work hard, pursue opportunity, and practice their Sikh faith in peace, Mayor Bhalla was born and raised in New Jersey.
In the 2024 3-way Democratic Congressional primary, Bhalla received more than 60% of the vote in the 32nd legislative district. He announced last week that he was not running for reelection as mayor.
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