Seema Singh Loses NJ State Senate

New Jersey, Nov.. 10, 2007
Nirmal Singh

Democratic Seema Singh lost to Bill Baroni, Senate Assemblyman in the 14th District, New Jersey.

• Republican Bill Baroni score 44,000 votes
• Democratic Seema Singh score 19,000 votes

A negative media attention she had been receiving in the weeks prior to the election. Media in New Jersey has been reporting on alleged ethics violations by Seema Singh during her term as rate counsel such as using a clerk as a driver and rehiring a retired employee who was receiving pensions from the NJ State Government at a salary of $125 an hour - paying her over $500,000 in 3 years.

NRI Seema Singh is first person to qualify in the state's Fair and Clean Elections money

New York, June 15, 2007
Nirmal Singh

NRI Seema Singh, 45, Indian American woman is running for state Senate in New Jersey's 14th Legislative District, which is in Mercer and Middlesex counties. She is THE first person to qualify in the state's Fair and Clean Elections pilot programme.

The district has been chosen for the "Clean Elections" public financing pilot program. Candidates are required to collect 400 $10 contributions to qualify for the program. She filed 400 contributions at $10 each to become a qualified candidate in the pilot programme

• Each candidate who receives 400 qualifying contributions of $10 from district voters will get a $46,000 grant from the state, making a total of $50,000.
• The state will provide $1,200 for each contribution after that up to 800, with the maximum total grant being $534,375. By taking public money, they agree to forgo private fundraising and to abide by spending limit.

Seema Singh said, "This is an important issue because New Jersey is such a diverse state and Each community has their own issues, their own way of thinking, their own culture and if you don't have representation from all over then you are not really representing the masses."

Seema resigned as ratepayer advcoate in April to campaign, said she never solicited the contributions and she performed her job without political considerations.

Seema Singh, former Ratepayer Advocate for the State of NJ and the President of Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce and Founder of the Asian Women’s Safety Net, look at this election as an opportunity to extend her advocacy. When Seema Singh was an eighth grader in Calcutta, India she worked in the leper colonies of the Burnpur-Durgapur belt in West Bengal, under the guidance of Mother Teresa. Ever since, she's dedicated her life to helping others

She immigrated to New Jersey in 1984 and got law degree from Rutgers University and Seton Hall Law School. She practiced in the area of international law with a focus on the Indian and Asian communities.

• Seema Singh is running for state Senate in New Jersey's 14th Legislative District, which is in Mercer and Middlesex counties.
• In 2002, she became the first NRI ever to hold a New Jersey cabinet position. Gov. James McGreevey appointed her to the post of Ratepayer Advocate

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