Sadaf Jaffer

Sadaf F. Jaffer (born February 19, 1983) is an American elected official who has represented the 16th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since taking office on January 11, 2022. She is a postdoctoral research associate at the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies.

Sadaf Jaffer
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly
from the 16th district
Assumed office
January 11, 2022
Serving with Roy Freiman
Preceded byAndrew Zwicker
Mayor of Montgomery Township
In office
January 3, 2019 – December 31, 2020
Succeeded byDevra Keenan
Personal details
Born (1983-02-19) February 19, 1983[1]
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseDaniel Sheffield
Children1
ResidenceMontgomery Township, New Jersey
EducationGeorgetown University (BS)
Harvard University (PhD)
WebsiteLegislative webpage

Jaffer served two one-year terms as mayor of Montgomery Township, having taken office on January 3, 2019, and completing her term on December 31, 2020. She is the first woman of South Asian descent to serve as mayor of a town in New Jersey, and the first Muslim woman to serve as a mayor in the United States. Jaffer was first elected to Montgomery's Township Committee in 2017. She will not be seeking re-election in the 2023 New Jersey General Assembly election due to personal reasons.[2]

Early life, family and education

Jaffer was born in Chicago to South Asian Muslim immigrants. Her mother was born in Pakistan and her father was born in Yemen.[3] Her ancestors are originally from the Kutch region of western India.[4] She attended the Latin School of Chicago, earned a bachelor's degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and a PhD at Harvard University.[5][6]

In 2011, Jaffer married Daniel Sheffield,[7] an assistant professor in the Near Eastern Studies department at Princeton. They had met at Harvard and have one child.[8][9]

Mayor of Montgomery Township

In 2016, Jaffer launched an unsuccessful write-in campaign for Montgomery Township Committee. The following year she won a seat on the Township Committee on the Democratic ticket. In 2019, she was appointed to the position as mayor by her fellow committee members. She was sworn in on January 3, 2019, becoming the first woman of South Asian descent to serve as mayor of a town in New Jersey, and the first Muslim woman to serve as a mayor in the United States.

New Jersey General Assembly
See also: 2021 New Jersey General Assembly election § District 16

Jaffer ran for New Jersey General Assembly in the 16th district after incumbent Andrew Zwicker decided to run for New Jersey State Senate. She was endorsed by several progressive groups, including #VOTEPROCHOICE.[10] After trailing behind Republican Vinny Panico for the second Assembly seat by nearly 300 votes in data published the night of the election[11] she won alongside Roy Freiman in the final results, more than 2,500 votes ahead of Panico.[12]

Committees

Committee assignments for the current session are:[13]

  • Education
  • Health
  • State and Local Government

District 16

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly.[14] The representatives from the 16th District for the 2022—23 Legislative Session are:[15]

Electoral history
16th Legislative District Democratic Primary, 2021[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sadaf F. Jaffer 9,383 44.2%
Democratic Roy Freiman (incumbent) 8,889 41.8%
Democratic Faris Zwirahn 2,979 14.0%
Total votes 21,251 100.0%
16th Legislative District General Election, 2021[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Roy Freiman (incumbent) 40,992 26.67%
Democratic Sadaf F. Jaffer 39,512 25.71%
Republican Vincent T. Panico 36,924 24.03%
Republican Joseph A. Lukac III 36,251 23.59%
Total votes 153,679 100.0
Democratic hold

References
  1. "Sadaf F. Jaffer – candidate for Montgomery Township Committee". www.ggcnj.org. October 19, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  2. Wildstein, David (January 16, 2023). "Jaffer will not seek re-election to Assembly in 2023". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  3. O'Dea, Colleen (May 8, 2019). "Meet Sadaf Jaffer, New Jersey's first female Muslim mayor". PBS/NPR. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  4. Jabeen, Yusra (January 7, 2019). "Sadaf Jaffer Sworn In As The First South Asian Woman Mayor in New Jersey". TheIndiaObserver.com. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  5. Deak, Mike. "Montgomery: Sadaf Jaffer becomes NJ's first female South Asian mayor". Courier News. Somerville, New Jersey. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  6. "Sadaf Jaffer sworn in as first South Asian-American woman mayor in New Jersey". New India Times. Parikh Worldwide Media. January 4, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  7. "Sadaf Jaffer, Daniel Sheffield: Weddings". The New York Times. May 27, 2011. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  8. de La Bruyere, Josephine (January 13, 2019). "Postdoc becomes NJ's first female South Asian mayor". The Daily Princetonian. Princeton, New Jersey. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  9. Sharma, Ahmed (January 30, 2019). "South Asian American woman breaks boundaries with historic mayoral election". News 4 San Antonio. Sinclair Broadcast Group. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  10. "Meet Our 2021 Candidates". #VOTEPROCHOICE. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  11. Wildstein, David. "Freiman re-elected, Jaffer likely winner of 16th district Assembly seat", New Jersey Globe, November 5, 2021. Accessed January 23, 2022. "Jaffer, who trailed on election night and was ahead by less than 300 votes on Thursday, has now opened up an 801-vote lead against Republican Vinny Panico, a former president of the Central Hunterdon Regional Board of Education."
  12. New Jersey Elections Results: State Assembly - District 16 - General, Associated Press. Accessed January 23, 2022.
  13. Assemblywoman Sadaf Jaffer, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2022.
  14. New Jersey State Constitution 1947 (Updated Through Amendments Adopted in November, 2020): Article IV, Section II, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2022.
  15. Legislative Roster for District 16, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 11, 2022.
  16. "Official List, Candidates for General Assembly For PRIMARY ELECTION 06/08/2021 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. July 13, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  17. "Official List, Candidates for General Assembly For GENERAL ELECTION 11/02/2021 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 30, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
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