Hirsh Singh
Hirsh Singh announced his candidacy for governor of New Jersey. If elected, he’d become just the third Indian-American governor in U.S. history. Photo: singhfornewjersey.com

NEW YORK (Diya TV) — Indian-American entrepreneur Hirsh Vardhan Singh has officially announced his candidacy for governor of New Jersey, running as a Republican on the platform of reducing the state’s property taxes and bringing the state to the forefront of technological development.

Singh faces a multitude of tough opposition at the June Republican primary. There are currently four Republicans vying for the party’s nomination to succeed Gov. Chris Christie: Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, Lt. Gov. and Secretary of State Kim Guadagno, Nutley Commissioner of Public Affairs Steven Rogers and businessman Joseph Rudy Rullo.

He announced his candidacy earlier this month and asked the New Jersey electorate to give his fresh ideas a chance.

“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,” he said.

Singh, a New Jersey native who was born in Atlantic City, earned his engineering degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. “It’s time to scale back government interference in our lives and get back to our motto of ‘Liberty and Prosperity’,” he said.

If elected, Singh would be just the third Indian-American in history to be elected governor of a state in the U.S. Former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was the first, followed by former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who graduated to her current post as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Trump.

New Jersey has one of the highest concentration of Indian Americans in the nation. According to 2010 Census figures, New Jersey had the third largest concentration of Indian Americans after California (528,176) and New York (313,629). The state has seen its Indian-American population skyrocket nearly 80 percent since 2000.

“I was making a lot more money in the private sector. I was doing a very good job. The idea is to help our people and improve the state,” Singh said in a recent interview to SNJ Today.

While announcing his candidacy, Singh said New Jersey’s greatest problems are those that come as a result of a flawed philosophy of government that’s held by the state’s leaders. He said the solution can be found in the state’s motto: Liberty and Prosperity.

“Through liberty we attain prosperity,” he said.