Ravinder Bhalla became Hoboken’s first ever Sikh mayor Tuesday night just days after being targeted by flyers labeling him a terrorist.
HOBOKEN, NJ — Ravinder Bhalla will become Hoboken’s first ever Sikh mayor. He won Tuesday night’s election just days after being targeted by flyers labeling him a terrorist.
Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer decided not to run for re-election in June. She had endorsed Bhalla, an Indian-American born in New Jersey, to take her place.
Bhalla has been on the city council for more than seven years.
The recent flyers were not the first time he’d been referred to as a terrorist. A Jersey City man previously tweeted: “how the hell did Hoboken allow this guy to be a councilman. He shouldn’t even be allowed in the U.S. #terrorist.”
Bhalla tweeted about the flyers. They read “Don’t let TERRORISM take over our Town!” over a picture of Bhalla.
“Of course this is troubling, but we won’t let hate win,” Bhalla said.
