9 Candidates File To Run For 3 Seats On South Brunswick Board Of Education

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ – South Brunswick voters will choose from a list of nine candidates when they cast their ballots for the Board of Education this November.

Monday marked the deadline for school-board candidates around the state to file petitions to get on the ballot for the upcoming elections and the County finalized the list late Tuesday night. And now a clearer picture has emerged as to who is running.

Here’s the list of candidates:

• Mukesh Bhatt
• Magesh K. Kamalakannan
• Raja Krishna (Students First Always)
• Vivek Kumar
• James Lavan (Protect Our Children)
• Joyce Mehta (Community Unity Equity)
• Mike Mitchell (Educator For Education)
• Smitha Raj
• Bilal Yousef Ahmed (Putting Students First)

Raja Krishna, Mike Mitchell and Smitha Raj are incumbents seeking reelection.

Magesh K. Kamalakannan had an unsuccessful run back in 2018. Mukesh Bhatt and Vivek Kumar are first-time candidates.

Lavan, who had made previous unsuccessful bids for a Board membership, is seeking a seat again.

Meanwhile, Mehta, a former BOE member who was embroiled in a much-publicized ethics controversy and who lost her bid last year has thrown her hat in the ring for the November election. More: Mehta Decides Not To Resign As President Of South Brunswick BOE

This year's general elections will be held on Nov. 7. Patch will publish a detailed interview with each candidate in the coming days.

(A previous version of the article missed out on Bilal Yousef Ahmed 's name)

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