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Sadaf Jaffer
Sadaf Jaffer (Democratic Party) was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly, representing District 16. She assumed office on January 11, 2022. She left office on January 9, 2024.
Jaffer (Democratic Party) ran for election to the New Jersey General Assembly to represent District 16. She won in the general election on November 2, 2021.
Jaffer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Sadaf Jaffer earned a B.S. in foreign service from Georgetown University in 2005 and a Ph.D. in Near Eastern languages and civilizations from Harvard University in 2015. Jaffer's career experience includes working as a political partner with the Truman National Security Project and a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton University.[1][2]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Jaffer was assigned to the following committees:
Elections
2023
Sadaf Jaffer did not file to run for re-election.
2021
See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2021
General election
General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 16 (2 seats)
Incumbent Roy Freiman and Sadaf Jaffer defeated Vincent Panico and Joseph A. Lukac, III in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 16 on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Roy Freiman (D) | 26.7 | 40,992 |
| ✔ |  | Sadaf Jaffer (D)  | 25.7 | 39,512 |
| Vincent Panico (R) | 24.0 | 36,924 | ||
 | Joseph A. Lukac, III (R) | 23.6 | 36,251 | |
| Total votes: 153,679 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 16 (2 seats)
Sadaf Jaffer and incumbent Roy Freiman defeated Faris Zwirahn in the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 16 on June 8, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sadaf Jaffer | 44.2 | 9,383 |
| ✔ | | Roy Freiman | 41.8 | 8,889 |
 | Faris Zwirahn | 14.0 | 2,979 | |
| Total votes: 21,251 | |||
| = 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
- Chris Fistonich (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 16 (2 seats)
Vincent Panico and Joseph A. Lukac, III advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 16 on June 8, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Vincent Panico | 50.9 | 10,113 | |
| ✔ | | Joseph A. Lukac, III | 49.1 | 9,763 |
| Total votes: 19,876 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Endorsements
To view Jaffer's endorsements in the 2021 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sadaf Jaffer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Jaffer's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Our democracy is strongest when we include diverse voices and perspectives in policymaking. As two-term mayor of Montgomery Township, I focused on building trust within the community through increased communication with residents. This community-led approach was central to my signature initiatives including Montgomery’s crisis communications plan which helped us maintain some of the lowest COVID-19 infection and fatality rates in New Jersey; workshop meetings for Black community members and youth activists with police leadership to prioritize racial justice; a participatory design process for Montgomery’s new municipal center and library; and a Youth Leadership Council I established to elevate the voices of young people who are energized to lead.
I am also a Postdoctoral Research Associate in South Asian Studies at Princeton University where I teach courses on South Asian, Islamic, and Asian American Studies. I earned my bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and obtained my PhD from Harvard University.- I will work to protect women’s reproductive rights and equitable maternal healthcare
- I will pursue an economic recovery that creates green jobs and protects our environment
- As mayor, I established a Youth Leadership Council to elevate the voices of young people
Equitable Maternal Healthcare. Women of color account for nearly 60% of all pregnancy-related maternal deaths in New Jersey and Black women are over four times more likely to die during childbirth than their white counterparts. New Jersey is the first state in the nation to provide at-home nurse wellness checks for women after childbirth. I support programs to provide physical therapy for postpartum mothers and investments in comprehensive anti-bias training for healthcare providers as well as programs to recruit more diverse candidates to enter the healthcare field.
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.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of New Jersey scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
In 2024, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 9 to December 19.
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 10 to January 8.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 11 to December 31. |
See also
2021 Elections
External links
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Candidate New Jersey General Assembly District 16 |
Personal |
Footnotes
