The Wolves of Middlesex’s Elite Bully Edison Elections, But Live In Wealthy Somerset Suburbs

Once upon a Tuesday evening in a local banquet hall, neighbors gathered to celebrate teachers, small businesses, and community spirit at the Edison Chamber of Commerce’s 26th Annual Awards Reception.

Independent Mayoral Candidate David Tingle was there to honor the people who make Edison thrive. “Supporting this event isn’t about politics,” Tingle said. “It’s about showing up for the people who make this town special.”

Also in attendance were Gloria Dittman and Elizabeth Conway, Republican and Democrat candidates for Edison Council , two women who crossed party lines to stand together on integrity and accountability. Their message couldn’t have been clearer:

Edison belongs to its people, not to political insiders.

As the applause faded and the conversations turned quiet, the wolves appeared. Not the kind from storybooks, the kind who wear designer suits and dictate from afar. The kind who don’t live in Edison, but act like they own it.

One of them, described by witnesses leaned toward the two candidates with a smirk and said, “If you wanted to run for Council, you should have come to me first.”
Conway didn’t flinch. She looked him straight in the eye and asked, “Do you even live in Edison?”

He doesn’t.

And neither do the people who cash the mayor’s campaign checks.

The Money Trail Tells the Story

For all his talk about being a “mayor for the people,” Sam Joshi’s campaign reports tell a very different story.

According to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), Joshi’s campaign spent $334,306 so far this election cycle and an astonishing 94 percent of it went to businesses outside Edison.

That means nearly $315,000 in campaign money left town, enriching political consultants and insiders from Trenton to Washington, D.C. while Edison’s own small businesses got almost nothing.

• $182,505 went to the NJ Democratic State Committee in Trenton.
• $97,965 went to Donohoe Partners Inc. and Deliver Strategies LLC, both based in Washington, D.C., for mail design and field operations.
• $8,000 went to MVAR Media LLC in Alexandria, VA, and thousands more to firms in Texas, Illinois, and West New York.
• Meanwhile, not a single major expenditure was made at a business in Edison.

When local campaigns need printing, they go to Staples on Route 1 or a neighborhood print shop. When volunteers need signs, they buy them from a local vendor. When grassroots campaigns need coffee, they buy it right here in town.

But Joshi? He doesn’t buy local.
He boycotts his own community — sending campaign dollars to Trenton and D.C. while Edison’s small businesses are left behind.

This is the difference between leadership that belongs to a community and leadership that buys one.

The Wolves of Middlesex

That Chamber event wasn’t an isolated moment — it was a snapshot of how Middlesex’s political elite operate. They mistake fear for respect. They confuse control with leadership. They believe influence is the same as belonging.

But they don’t belong here.

Gloria Dittman and Elizabeth Conway, running together on Columns B and E, are standing up to that machine. Their campaign is built by residents who live here, work here, and believe Edison’s future should be shaped by its people — not by consultants with D.C. zip codes and Trenton connections.

Because real leadership doesn’t come from power brokers. It comes from people who call this town home.

So to the wolves of Middlesex: take notice. The townspeople are awake.
And when you try to huff and puff at the people of Edison, they’ll smile, shop local, and remind you with quiet grace:

“We live here. Do you?”

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