Upendra Chivukula (born October 8, 1950) is a Democratic politician who currently serves as a Commissioner on the

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) is a regulatory authority in New Jersey "with authority to oversee the regulated utilities, which in turn provide critical services such as natural gas, electricity, water, telecommunications and c ...

after serving more than 12 years 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 ...

, where he had been the

Deputy Speaker Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain ...

. On September 18, 2014, Chivukula was nominated by Governor

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

to a seat on the

, to replace retiring NJ BPU Commissioner

Jeanne Fox Jeanne Fox is the former President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. She was originally appointed to the position in 2002 by former Gov. James McGreevey and was retained in the Cabinets of former Gov. Richard Codey and Gov. Jon Corzin ...

. The

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

voted 35–1 to confirm Chivukula to a six-year term on the

on September 22, 2014. In 2014, he ran in the Democratic primary to fill retiring Congressman Rush Holt's seat in Congress, but he did not win the nomination. Chivukula served in the

from 2002 to 2014, where he represented the 17th Legislative District. In 2001, Chivukula became 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, Native Americans in the United States, who ar ...

elected to the New Jersey General Assembly and the fourth Indian American in the United States to be elected to state office.

Biography

Chivukula served as the

's Deputy Speaker from 2007 to 2014. Chivukula was noted for being a progressive legislator and, in coordination with Congressman Rush D. Holt Jr., pushed through reforms to invest in clean energy, infrastructure projects, and high-tech manufacturing jobs.
"'Mr Energy' on Investing in NJ Job Powerhouses." Chivukula served on the Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, Franklin Township Council from 1998 to 2005. He was first elected to represent the 5th Council Ward in 1997, and won re-election to his 5th Ward seat in 2001. He served as the township

deputy mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...

in 1998 and as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

in 2000.Assemblyman Chivukula's legislative web page

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

. Accessed April 23, 2008. In Franklin Township, he has also served on the Franklin Township Community Foundation, Finance Oversight Committee, Traffic Management Committee, Fire Prevention Board, Emergency Life Support Delivery, Integrated Communications Committee, Emergency Management, Franklin Township Planning Board, Economic Development Committee, Community / Senior Center Steering Committee and the Bicentennial Celebration Committee. Chivukula has served on the Somerset County Affordable Housing Board of Trustees and the Middlesex County Cultural and Historic Commission. He was appointed by then

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...

James Florio James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional dist ...

to be a Public Member of the New Jersey State Board of Social Work Examiners, where he served from 1994 to 1997. He was a member of the delegation to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and was an alternate delegate in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. Chivukula was one of New Jersey's presidential electors casting the state's

Electoral College An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

votes after the 2004 presidential election; New Jersey's electors cast their ballots on December 13, 2004, in the State House Annex in Trenton, where all 15 votes were cast for Democratic Party candidate

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

. On November 6, 2012, he ran for Congress against Republican incumbent U.S. Representative

Leonard Lance Leonard John Lance (born June 25, 1952) is an American politician and attorney who served as the U.S. representative for , from 2009 to 2019. He ran for re-election in 2018, but was defeated by Democrat Tom Malinowski. He is a member of the R ...

to represent

New Jersey's 7th congressional district New Jersey's 7th congressional district includes all of Hunterdon and Warren Counties; and parts of Morris, Somerset, Sussex, and Union Counties. The district is represented by Republican Thomas Kean Jr., who was first elected in 2022, de ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. He was defeated in the heavily Republican district 57%–40% with a vote of 175,662 to 123,057. On June 3, 2014, he ran for Congress against NJ state Assemblywoman

Bonnie Watson Coleman Bonnie Marie Watson Coleman (born February 6, 1945) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for New Jersey's 12th congressional district since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (U ...

, NJ state Senator

Linda R. Greenstein Linda R. Greenstein (born June 7, 1950) is an American attorney and politician who has served since 2010 as a member of the New Jersey Senate representing the 14th legislative district. She previously served in the General Assembly from 2000 to ...

, and physicist Andrew Zwicker in the Democratic primary for

New Jersey's 12th congressional district New Jersey's 12th congressional district is represented by Democrat Bonnie Watson Coleman, who has served in Congress since 2015. The district is known for its research centers and educational institutions such as Princeton University, Rider Un ...

in the

, to succeed retiring Congressman Rush D. Holt Jr. Chivukula came in third place in the primary with 21.8%, losing to Watson Coleman and Greenstein, who received 43% and 27.8% of the primary vote, respectively. Chivukula received a B.E.E. from

College of Engineering, Guindy The College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) is a public engineering college situated in Chennai, India. It is Asia's oldest technical institution, founded in 1794. It is also the oldest technical institution to be established outside Europe. Histo ...

(now part of

Anna University Anna University is a public state university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The main campus is in Guindy. It was originally established on 4 September 1978 and is named after C. N. Annadurai, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Histor ...

) in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and an M.E.E. degree from

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

in electrical engineering. He was born in

Nellore Nellore, also spelt as Nelluru, is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India.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 currently resides in

Somerset, New Jersey Somerset is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Franklin Township, in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

. In 2015, Chivukula co-authored "THE 3rd WAY" with Veny Musum which advocates closing the broadening gap between the rich and the poor in America and worldwide through Inclusive Capitalism, or Economic Democracy via business initiatives like increasing an employee's equity stake and other methods of increasing profit sharing among all employees.

Election history

References

External links

*''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms'' �
2013201220112010200920082007200620052004Assembly Member Upendra J. Chivukula

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chivukula, Upendra 1950 births Living people American Hindus City College of New York alumni Indian emigrants to the United States American politicians of Indian descent Asian-American state legislators in New Jersey American mayors of Indian descent Mayors of places in New Jersey American people of Telugu descent Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly New Jersey city council members People from Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey Politicians from Somerset County, New Jersey State cabinet secretaries of New Jersey 2004 United States presidential electors 20th-century mayors of places in New Jersey Recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature

Biography

Election history

See also

References

External links