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Fahad Akhtar
Fahad Akhtar (Common Sense Independent Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey's 6th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.
Biography
Fahad Akhtar was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Akhtar's career experience includes working as a law enforcement officer, writer, manager, special agent, and innovation fellow. He earned a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in 2017 and a graduate degree from Dartmouth College in 2022.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: New Jersey's 6th Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 6
Incumbent Frank Pallone Jr., Katie Bansil, John Hsu, and Fahad Akhtar are running in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 6 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Frank Pallone Jr. (D) | |
 | Katie Bansil (D) | |
 | John Hsu (D) | |
 | Fahad Akhtar (Common Sense Independent Party) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2024
See also: New Jersey's 6th Congressional District election, 2024
New Jersey's 6th Congressional District election, 2024 (June 4 Democratic primary)
New Jersey's 6th Congressional District election, 2024 (June 4 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House New Jersey District 6
Incumbent Frank Pallone Jr. defeated Scott Fegler, Fahad Akhtar, Herb Tarbous, and Matthew Amitrano in the general election for U.S. House New Jersey District 6 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Frank Pallone Jr. (D) | 56.1 | 170,275 |
 | Scott Fegler (R) | 40.3 | 122,519 | |
| Fahad Akhtar (Common Sense Independent Party) | 1.6 | 4,871 | |
 | Herb Tarbous (G) | 1.4 | 4,246 | |
 | Matthew Amitrano (L) | 0.6 | 1,770 | |
| Total votes: 303,681 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Justin Maldonado (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 6
Incumbent Frank Pallone Jr. defeated John Hsu in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 6 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Frank Pallone Jr. | 84.0 | 36,649 |
| John Hsu | 16.0 | 6,992 | |
| Total votes: 43,641 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 6
Scott Fegler defeated Gregg Mele in the Republican primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 6 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Scott Fegler | 81.6 | 15,215 |
 | Gregg Mele | 18.4 | 3,440 | |
| Total votes: 18,655 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Brian Largey (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Akhtar in this election.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Fahad Akhtar has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Fahad Akhtar asking him to fill out the survey. If you are Fahad Akhtar, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
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You can ask Fahad Akhtar to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing manager@fahadforcongress.com.
2024
Fahad Akhtar completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Akhtar's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Fahad began his career as a Writer in the Obama White House before pivoting to finance. After four years at BlackRock, Fahad launched his own investment consulting firm. Around the same time, reflecting on the dire state of our Nation's place in the world, Fahad decided to return to public service. He joined the Department of Defense as an Innovation Fellow before moving to the FBI as a Special Agent focused on Counterintelligence matters. During his time at the Bureau, Fahad realized the true cause of our Nation's decline is not the bureaucracy, but the inept policies put forth by unqualified lawmakers. That's when he decided it was time to seek elected office.
Fahad holds a BA in Economics from Rutgers University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
He is a proud husband and father of two.- Pro-Competence
- Pro-Justice
- Anti-Tax
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Akhtar’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
PRO-FREEDOM. We Americans don't share a race or religion. Our common foundation is our Constitution. Adherence to that document and its core values is all that holds our society together. The First Amendment to the Constitution reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Supreme Court precedent (Tinker, Alvarez, etc.) has upheld and expanded these principles. Thus, we must preserve freedom of speech--especially when the speech we are protecting is political speech with which we disagree. We are not Europe or Asia. Speech codes aren't welcome here. Americans are tough--for us, words are not violence. Our Constitution explicitly protects the free exercise of religion. The same cannot be said for a couple's ability to obtain a wedding cake from their vendor of choice or an employee's access to abortion. In Congress, I will strengthen laws to protect the right to practice religion freely--even when such practice inconveniences another person. PRO-FAMILY. I support a common-sense definition of marriage. PRO-HEALTHCARE. In a wealthy society, preventative, emergency, and maternity care ought to be a right. In Congress, I will fight for free basic healthcare for all Americans. PRO-STUDENT. PRO-PARENT. Compassion toward all young people is essential, but gender dysphoria is an illness. In Congress, I will vote to bar schools that preach gender dysphoria from receiving any federal funding. Major decisions ought to be made with advice and guidance from loved ones and friends, not as a result of one-sided advice from a public employee. PRO-WORKER. In place of the inefficient bureaucratic web of redistribution programs, I would support the creation of a Universal Basic Income program. Such a program would require no administrative oversight as every American would automatically receive the same unconditional benefits through their bank or via check every month. PRO-ENVIRONMENT. PRO-COMPASSION. In place of the inefficient bureaucratic web of redistribution programs, I would support the creation of a Universal Basic Income program. Such a program would require no administrative oversight as every American would automatically receive the same unconditional benefits through their bank or via check every month. PRO-SAFETY. Our Founders added the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution not to protect the rights of sportsmen or homeowners, but to give the governed a means by which to defend themselves from an overbearing government. Democrats believe that the government ought to have a monopoly on violence, and they argue that "weapons of war have no place on our streets." Our Founders intended the opposite. So long as the government has weapons of war, so must the governed. Our freedom depends on this balance. Those who argue the opposite dream of a statist dystopia. I firmly support the expansion of gun rights and constitutional carry for American citizens so long as they can pass the equivalent of the FBI PQC 2020. And I firmly oppose any gun rights for non-citizens. PRO-JUSTICE. All proven descendants of the victims of American chattle slavery will recieve a one time payement calculated based on the value of their enslaved ancestor's inflation adjusted earning potential and lost wealth. It will be split among descendants based on share of lineage. PRO-HOUSING. Homelessness in a wealthy society with empty, undeveloped land is a mark of callousness. We currently allow extractive industries to profit from federal land use at low or no cost. When I'm in Congress, I will introduce legislation to allow Americans to obtain low-cost, long-term leases for up to five acres of federally held land. The rate paid by individuals will be pegged to the lowest rate offered to companies in the year prior to the law being enacted and adjusted annually for inflation. PRO-COP. Law enforcement officers deserve more respect, but they'd also benefit from more training. In Congress, I will fight to bring a new federal law enforcement training campus to the Sixth District--and I'd make sure our local LEOs have access to the facility. PRO-BORDER. Smart people build a fence around their land to keep intruders out. A scaled up version of that concept is the best solution for our border. Common sense border security is not inhumane. PRO-COMPETITION. ANTI-INCOME TAX. In Congress, I would call for a Constitutional Convention to repeal or amend the Income Tax Amendment (16th). ANTI-GENOCIDE. Warfare is inherently ugly. But in a civilized world, there is a bright red line between ugly and genocidal. The IDF's bombardment of Gaza has killed at least 80,000 people. Self-defense is justified, revenge is not. When men go to war, they put themselves in harm's way to preserve the lives of their adversary nation's non-combatants. The IDF does not operate like men. In fact, it does not even operate within the rules of war. When I'm in Congress, I will not send a single dollar to any country that uses American money and weapons to commit crimes against humanity. I love America, and I will not allow us to incur God's wrath because of the Israel Lobby's genocidal project. I will always put America first. ANTI-EXPLOITATION.
COMMON SENSE INDEPENDENT.[2] |
” |
| —Fahad Akhtar’s campaign website (2024)[3] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 5, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Fahad Akhtar’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed October 24, 2024
