EDISON, NJ (TIP): Hirsh Vardhan Singh, a 31-year-old Indian-American entrepreneur has entered the governor’s race in New Jersey. The Republican announced his run for the top elected position in the State earlier this month and urged people of New Jersey to give fresh ideas a chance. He also unveiled several points of his plan including: cutting property taxes and fixing the school funding formula to bring back prosperity to the residents of New Jersey, fix transportation infrastructure, and make New Jersey a national leader in technological innovation.

Announcing his candidacy for the New Jersey Governor’s seat, Singh emphasized his goal to bring back jobs to New Jersey. “We need to fix our economy, we need to get going in the right direction”, Singh said. During his speech, he mentioned the need for fresh and innovative ideas “we’ve tried bankers from Goldman Sachs before and we’ve tried lawyers”; “Now if you give me the support I bring my engineering background as a problem solver”.

But Singh will face a tough Republican primary on June 6, 2017, battling with least four popular Republican candidates in the race – Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, Lt Governor and Secretary of State Kim Guadagno, Nutley Commissioner of Public Affairs Steven Rogers and businessman Joseph Rudy Rullo.

If elected in the November gubernatorial elections, Singh would succeed outgoing Republican Governor Chris Christie and would be the third Indian-American ever elected as a Governor of a State after Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley.

Born in Atlantic City as the middle of three children, Hirsh attended a public high school in Egg Harbor Township. Through high school, Hirsh got involved in many extracurricular activities, which encouraged him to take on many leadership roles during his time in college at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Hirsh went on to receive a Bachelor of Science from NJIT in Engineering.