Trenton: New Jersey state Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, a healthcare entrepreneur, former local prosecutor and former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant who previously served as deputy mayor of Jersey City, has been selected by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin to chair the Assembly Judiciary Committee for the 219th legislative session, Mukherji’s office said in a news release.
“I am honored by Speaker Coughlin’s confidence in me by appointing me Judiciary Chair,” Mukherji, a Democrat who was first elected to the Assembly in 2013, said in a news release.
“In leading the Judiciary Committee, I plan to work diligently with the committee members to consider thoughtful policy rooted in fairness and justice for all New Jerseyans,” the Indian American politician added.
Mukherji becomes the first Asian American in state history to serve as Judiciary chair. He is presently the only former Marine and the only Asian American serving in the New Jersey General Assembly. In the prior term, he served as Majority Whip of the General Assembly, the news release said.
Mukherji co-founded the Jersey City-based law firm Mukherji Wolf LLC and co-owns several healthcare businesses.
At 24, Mukherji was appointed commissioner and chairman of the Jersey City Housing Authority, the youngest in city history, where he earned nationwide acclaim for various reforms at the state’s second-largest housing authority, his bio notes.
At 27, he was appointed deputy mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey. He also served as a municipal prosecutor for three years and as an adjunct professor of political science at New Jersey City University, where he taught constitutional law.
