Satish Poondi

Satish Poondi, 21, who ran as the Republican candidate for the Edison Town Council, N.J., lost his bid in what he says was a closely fought election. “It was very close last night. We came out short by a little bit,” Poondi told News India-Times in an interview. “This is my first time so it was exciting, and though the end did not come out as I wanted, I am happy I put in the effort.” Official numbers are not out yet.

Poondi said even though he was unopposed in the primaries, there was some opposition in the pre-primary screening to his candidature. “During the screening process for the primary I was opposed and I won in that pre-primary process and lot of people encouraged me,” he said, “And I got a lot of support from the Indian community.” He was earlier coordinating Jasal Amin’s run for the 18th District Assembly seat for New Jersey before deciding to run for office himself.

Poondi is a Dean’s List student of pharmacy and political science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. He works as a weekend manager at a local pharmacy to pay his way through college. “I ran because the issues were important for me --- property taxes, honest government, and over-urbanization. These are still issues I will focus on,” Poondi emphasized. On weekends, Poondi co-hosts the Spotlight program on EBC Radio 1680 AM in Metuchen, N.J. He interacts with local Asian business and political leaders, discussing their experiences in America. He has previously won the Bellevue Pharmacy Education Scholarship Award and is a participant in the Rutgers University Outstanding Scholarship Recruitment Program.

He is also State committee-man in the New Jersey Young Republican Federation. Poondi’s district has a 13,000 strong electorate of which an estimated 19 percent is Indian American.

“The campaign experience was wonderful. I met and talked to a lot of good people and the experience will shape me,” Poondi said.

----- Ela Dutt