The local electoral landscape in New Jersey’s sixth-largest municipality has been significantly reshaped following a stunning realignment, as defectors from both major parties have thrown their support behind independent Dave Tingle, catapulting his campaign into a head-to-head contest against Democratic Mayor Sam Joshi this November.
The shake-up consolidates opposition to the incumbent, effectively reframing the November mayoral election as a two-person contest.
Democratic Councilman Rich Brescher has crossed party lines to back Tingle, while Republican mayoral nominee Gloria Dittman has withdrawn from the race to join Tingle’s council slate.
Dittman’s decision effectively created a fusion ticket that includes both Republican and Democratic candidates.
Joshi secured the renomination with 68% of the vote, defeating challengers Lav Patel and Brescher, a former Board of Education member.
Brescher endorsed the independent in a letter, citing a long-standing acquaintance with Tingle that began a decade ago.
“I quickly recognized [Tingle] as a dedicated and passionate advocate for his community and our shared Democratic values,” wrote Brescher, pointing to Tingle’s military and law enforcement experience as qualifications for addressing his perceived “rise in crime under the current administration.”
Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) data from the New Jersey State Police and the FBI show that Edison experienced low violent crime rates from 2015 to 2018, followed by a period of notable increases, particularly between 2021 and 2023. Figures for 2024 are not yet available from the state police.
“Edison families are being crushed by rising taxes and reckless financial decisions under Sam Joshi,” said Brescher during the primary. “Instead of standing up for residents, he has given tax breaks to warehouses while allowing big corporations and heavy truck traffic to burden our roads, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.”
In a parallel development, Dittman announced her withdrawal from the mayoral race in a June 26 letter, calling it a result of “considerable reflection on the current political landscape.”
She subsequently endorsed Tingle and his entire “People’s Choice 2025” ticket, which includes council candidates Samiksha Sharma, Elizabeth Conway, and now herself.
“I believe that David and his team offer the best opportunity to bring real leadership, accountability, transparency and integrity back to Edison,” Dittman said.
The endorsement was swiftly embraced by local Republican leadership.
Sylvia Engel, the Republican Municipal Chairwoman, stated, “This decision firmly unites the Republican Party behind a singular vision for positive change in our town,” adding that the party’s “full support is with him.”
Tingle, a Chief Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and a lieutenant in the Edison Police Department, acknowledged the impact of the endorsements.
“We’re incredibly honored and energized by Gloria Dittman’s endorsement,” he said. “Her decision has immediately transformed this race, making it not just extremely competitive, but very winnable here in Edison.”
The “People’s Choice 2025” ticket has presented itself as a coalition focused on change. The council candidates highlighted their backgrounds in their announcements: Samiksha Sharma cited her work as a data analyst and community event organizer; Gloria Dittman pointed to her tenure leading local business and arts organizations; and Elizabeth Conway emphasized her record on the council advocating for “sustainable development” and “inclusive policies.”
The race is potentially competitive if Tingle can build a coalition of independent, Democratic, and Republican voters who are dissatisfied with the status quo.
Tingle’s website shows he raised $19,905 as of August 30, while Joshi spent more than $150,000 in the primary, but the challenger is feared by the Democratic establishment.
Edison Democratic Chairman Tom Lankey attempted to keep Tingle off the ballot, but his legal challenges failed.
Joshi’s council slate—Kelli Dima, Biral Patel, and Robert Kentos—defeated the team of Jayesh Mehta, Yingnan “Ingrid” Chen, and Anthony DeAmorin, who were aligned with Patel. Joyce Ship-Freeman, a former council president and the first African American to win a municipal election in Edison, ran alone and finished in seventh place.
Republican council nominees Russell Azzarello and Kartik Nath dropped out of the race after they were unchallenged in the GOP primary, while Sharma joined Dittman on Tingle’s slate.
The primary was the latest chapter in a period of pronounced internal division among local Democrats, split between a faction backed by the Middlesex County Democratic organization and another allied with former Democratic Municipal Chairman Mahesh Bhagia.
Patel is associated with Bhagia, whose political standing was damaged following a U.S. Postal Service investigation that implicated him and seven others in the creation of a racist 2017 mailer.
That mailer, which urged voters to “Make Edison Great Again” and warned that “Chinese and Indians are taking over our town,” became the subject of a state criminal probe and was a defining issue in the previous mayoral election.
It was apparently intended to boost the 2017 campaigns of school board candidates by mobilizing voters against xenophobic and racist tactics.
The county Democratic organization broke with the Bhagia-led local party to support Joshi, then a first-term councilman, in the 2021 primary, which he won decisively.
Three incumbents elected alongside Joshi in 2021—John Poyner, Margot Harris, and Nishith Patel—did not seek re-election this year.
As one of the largest cities in New Jersey, Edison also has one of the largest Asian populations in the state, comprising 47% of the population in Edison, a share of residents in five times the percentage of Asians in New Jersey.
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