Balvir Singh is a teacher and Democratic Party politician from

Burlington Township, New Jersey Burlington Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia and is part of the South Jersey region of the state. As of the 2020 U ...

, who has represented the 7th Legislative District in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

since January 30, 2025. He previously served on the Burlington County

Board of County Commissioners A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States. A county usually has three to five ...

from 2018 to 2025.Levinsky, David
"Burlington County Democrats gain ground with election wins"
, ''

Burlington County Times The ''Burlington County Times'' is a daily newspaper located in Westampton, New Jersey, U.S. The paper, which is part of the Gannett chain of newspapers, covers municipal and county issues in Burlington County, New Jersey as well as local and p ...

'', November 8, 2017. Accessed December 2, 2017. Singh is the first

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

to win a countywide election in Burlington County and the first

Sikh American American Sikhs form the country's sixth-largest religious group. While the U.S. Census does not ask about religion, 70,697 Americans (or of the total population) declared Sikh as their ethnicity in the 2020 census. The U.S. Census Bureau cites ...

to win a countywide election in the state of New Jersey.

Burlington Township Board of Education

In 2014, Singh was elected to the

board of education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

of the Burlington Township School District, coming in third among the five candidates seeking three open seats. As a board member, Singh served as Chair of the school district's finance committee. Over the three years Singh served in that role, taxes and overall spending increases were contained within the school district's budgets each year.

Commissioner election

Singh announced his intention to run for Burlington County

in March 2017 with running mate Tom Pullion. During the course of the campaign, Singh criticized the all-Republican Burlington County Board for focusing on bringing warehouses to the region with developers obtaining millions of dollars in tax subsidies, and creating traffic issues in local communities. Singh was criticized by his Republican opponents for his support of tax increases while on the Burlington Township Board of Education and for his support of gubernatorial candidate

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American politician, diplomat, and financier serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected governor i ...

. The Republicans also ran social media ads claiming that Singh would harbor criminal immigrants and support

sanctuary city A sanctuary city is a municipality that limits or denies its cooperation with the national government in enforcing immigration law. Proponents of sanctuary cities cite motives such as reducing the fear of persons which illegally immigrated fr ...

policies if elected.Cagnassola, Mary Ellen
"Rookie Balvir Singh takes on freeholder role as first Sikh to hold county office in NJ"
''The Sun Newspapers'', January 26, 2018. Accessed March 24, 2022. "But on Jan. 3, Singh, with his wife and two children by his side, was sworn into his hard-fought seat, becoming the first Sikh person to assume a countywide role in New Jersey and the first Asian American to sit on the BCBCF." Singh stated after the election that such immigration policies fall out his jurisdiction as a Freeholder, and therefore were irrelevant points to be made. In October 2017, it was revealed by the ''

'' that the Burlington County Democratic Committee sent more funds outside of the county to assist New Jersey Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney than they spent within the county to support Singh and Pullion's election. On election day, Singh and Pullion were declared the victors by a narrow margin in an election where voter turnout was at a record low.

Commissioner

Singh was sworn in to the Burlington County

on January 3, 2018. The oath of office was administered by Central

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

politician

Vin Gopal Vin Gopal (born May 18, 1985) is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician who took office on January 9, 2018, to represent the New Jersey's 11th legislative district, 11th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate, ...

, who was then Senator-Elect for New Jersey's 11th Legislative District. Gopal is the first

Indian-American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from India. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, who are also referred to as "Indians" or "Am ...

to be elected to New Jersey's State Senate, Singh voted in favor of the 2018 County budget, which resulted in a reduction in property taxes. The budget also called for a cut in the amount of money going into the Burlington County farmland preservation and open space fund since only two farms had applied for the program during the 2018 fiscal year, and neither accepted the county's offer. At the March 19, 2018 Board meeting, Republican Commissioner introduced a resolution to expand the Burlington County Women's Advisory Council's size from 15 to 20 members. Singh and Pullion expressed concern that current members were being dismissed and that new members were being chosen without a public advertisement of the vacancies. The resolution passed along a party-line vote. On June 13, 2018, Singh and Pullion cast dissenting votes on a motion to grant an $89,500 contract for architectural services for security studies within the schools of Burlington County. During the meeting, a resident addressed the Board and alleged that the firm had donated to Republican campaigns in the past. Singh and Pullion cited the firm that was granted the contract, alleging that the appointment had been made for political reasons. In January 2019, Singh joined with fellow Democrats on the Board to rescind the county's so-called "double dipper ban," which would prohibit Burlington County from employing any individual already collecting a taxpayer-funded pension unless they agreed to freeze their pension payments. Singh argued that the ban prevented hiring experienced individuals for publicly funded jobs within the county.

Personal life

Singh was born in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and was raised in a small village in

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. He immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1999 with his family at the age of 14. He grew up in a one-bedroom apartment in Burlington City, where he attended

Burlington City High School Burlington City High School is a six-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in seventh through twelfth grade in Burlington, in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of ...

. Singh has been married to his wife, Sandeep Kaur, since 2010. The couple have four children: son Gaganjeet Singh, daughter Gurleen Kaur, son Avijeet Singh, and daughter Avleen Kaur. He is

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

, and of

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

descent.

Burlington Township Board of Education

Commissioner election

Commissioner

Personal life

References

See also