Edison mayor won’t seek organization line in re-election bid

Five Edison mayoral hopefuls are seeking the endorsement of the local Democratic organization, but incumbent Thomas Lankey isn’t among them.

Lankey is planning to seek re-election – either off the line in the Democratic primary or as an independent — preferring to eschew a bid for support of heavily-splintered Edison Democratic Committee, the New Jersey Globe has learned.

Edison Democratic Municipal Chairman Mahesh Bhagia, Council Vice President Samip Joshi, Councilmen Richard Brescher and Joseph Coyle, and former Councilwoman Sapana Shah have indicated an interest in running for mayor.

Bhagia, the clear front runner to win the local party endorsement, has close ties to the Edison Eight, a group implicated last year in a conspiracy scandal involving an allegedly fake racist flyer aimed at inciting the township’s Asian American community in a 2017 school board race.  His brother, Raj Bhagia, is one of the Edison Eight.

The Edison Eight: Councilman Ayjay Patil; Board of Education President Jerry Shi; Wilentz law firm partner and Biden delegate Satish Poondi; former Democratic Municipal Chairman Shariq Ahmad; apparent school board member-elect Mohin Patel; Aloysius Dsouza; Joseph Dsouza; Bhagia and Shi – face a possible criminal investigation after they allegedly circulated a racist mailer.

The mailer – “Make Edison Great Again” – urged voters to “Stop Jerry Shi and Falguni Patel from taking over our school board.”

“The Chinese and Indians are taking over our Town!  Chinese School! Indian School! Cricket Fields,” the flyer said. “Enough is Enough.”

Coyle was recently crushed in a special election convention for a vacant State Assembly  seat.  Now he’s running concurrently for mayor and for the Assembly seat at the Middlesex Democratic convention in March.

Lankey, 59, was elected in 2013 after defeating incumbent Antonia Ricigliano in the general election by 2,524 votes, 38.7% to 26.5%, in a five-candidate field. Ricigliano ran as an independent after losing party support for reelection.

He was re-elected in 2017, defeating Keith Hahn by 3,596 votes, 58.6%  to 41.4%  Hahn had served as the Democratic Municipal Chairman before switching parties and running as a Republican.

Hahn plans to run again this fall.

Edison has had a string of mayors unable to hold on to their seats.

Ricigliano, then a councilwoman, defeated incumbent Jun Choi in the 2009 Democratic primary by 604 votes, 51.5% to 47%.   Choi had ousted incumbent George Spadoro in 2005 by a 56%-44% margin.