Democrat Tina Shah who is running for office in NJ discusses with the American Bazaar on being the fastest democrat in the district to cross the $1 million mark and why America today needs candidates
Tina Shah, a first-year democratic candidate from New Jersey who is running for office from NJ’s 7th district, is already creating her mark, in an otherwise crowded race.
Earlier this month, Shah became the first candidate to cross the $1 million mark. Shah’s office announced that they were able to raise an impressive $1,017,000 in a short span of time, given she only launched her campaign in July last year.
Indian-American Tina Shah is a triple-board certified physician in internal medicine, pulmonary and critical care medicine. She entered the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional district against Republican Congressman Tom Kean Jr.
READ: New Jersey 7th District Democrat Tina Shah tops $1 million in fundraising (
She is amongst one of the eight Democratic candidates looking to unseat Tom Kean Jr., making this election in NJ one of the most closely watched and intense political campaign.
Entering a crowded race, as a new candidate not from a political dynasty, is something that Shah sees as an advantage as opposed what some may assume as a political disadvantage. She says, “People are so tired of the current political climate, they want real candidates. They do not want someone who does not know the real working-class dynamics on the ground. I feel, I have a connection with people because I am amongst the, working, managing everyday things just like the masses. I mean, every morning, I wake up and go work in the hospital. I get to see problems faced by people every day. I am not a kind of a candidate sitting on a fund”
Shah has built her campaign around an issue that feels particularly strongly about – healthcare.
She says, “New Jersey needs candidates that value patients over profits. I am confident about flipping my district come November as I am fighting to serve families who work hard and deserve decent healthcare.”
Shah’s practice in the health care sector lets her see first-hand what is lacking in the current healthcare landscape, given the policies during the Trump 2.0 era.
She says, “Working every day with patients who are in need of crucial life-saving drugs and fair insurance policies, I see how the system has set them up to fail to get what they should be.”
She cites an example of how restrictive health policies are costing people. She says, “A few weeks ago, in the hospital we attended to a lady with asthma. She had been using an inhaler for the past ten years. But recently she switched insurance companies and when she ran out of the inhaler, she discovered the new insurance is not covering her inhaler. She could not afford the inhaler herself and as a result she didn’t get what for her is a life-saving requirement. She was admitted and we had to put her in an ICU and on a ventilator. All because she could not get insurance to cover her inhaler.”
READ: Tina Shah raises more than $600k for her Congressional run (
Shah adds, that there are cases like these every day that they encounter and unless something is done it is going to wreak havoc on people’s health.
Immensely proud of her background and the values of grit and determination that her immigrant parents instilled in her Shah says, “My parents are beautiful examples of hard-working families who persevered to make a place for themselves in the new country they made their home in and also contributed a lot to.
She adds, “My parents came to the U.S. from the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat. My mom is a retired CPA accountant and my dad is a chemical engineer.”
Some of the policies that Shah is taking up include Shah fighting against Trump and Kean Jr’s Medicaid cuts that give tax breaks to billionaires. She is also advocating for a right to an abortion.
“Chicago formed a lot of my beliefs about policy and advocacy. It was here that I sat down with senator Dick Durbin and learnt so much about advocating for what is right. Some of my best experiences have been in Chicago.”