Fellow South Asian leaders in the Democratic Party establishment appear in an ad for Edison mayoral candidate Sam Joshi, who is running in the Democratic Primary against businessman and Edison Democratic Party Chairman Mahesh Bhagia.

In the ad, Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D-33) urges voters in Edison to fill in every circle next to everyone on the Column A Team.  He is joined in the ad by state Senator Vin Gopal (D-11), Assemblyman Sterley Stanley (D-18), and Middlesex county Commissioner Shanti Narra, who also appears on the ballot.

The ad also features an image (above) of a masked Joshi elbow bumping Governor Phil Murphy, another backer of the councilman’s mayoral candidacy.

Edison observers describe a close and especially acrimonious contest in the Middlesex County town. Joshi has establishment backing from the party statewide but Bhagia is running aggressively and trying to take advantage of establishment overreach in Edison.