Sadaf Jaffer
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Sadaf Jaffer | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 16th district | |
| In office January 11, 2022 – January 9, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Andrew Zwicker |
| Succeeded by | Mitchelle Drulis |
| Mayor of Montgomery Township | |
| In office January 3, 2019 – December 31, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Mark Conforti |
| Succeeded by | Devra Keenan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 19, 1983[1] |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Daniel Sheffield |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | Georgetown University (BS) Harvard University (PhD) |
| Website | Legislative webpage |
Sadaf F. Jaffer (born February 19, 1983) is an American academic and politician who represented the 16th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2022 to 2024. She is a postdoctoral research associate at the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies.
Jaffer previously served two one-year terms as mayor of Montgomery Township, having taken office on January 3, 2019, and completing her term on December 31, 2020. She is the first woman of South Asian descent to serve as mayor of a town in New Jersey, and the first Muslim woman to serve as a mayor in the United States. Jaffer was first elected to Montgomery's Township Committee in 2017. She did not seek re-election in the 2023 New Jersey General Assembly election for personal reasons.[2]
Jaffer was born in Chicago to South Asian Muslim immigrants. Her mother was born in Pakistan and her father was born in Yemen to Indian parents.[3] Her ancestors are originally from the Kutch region of western India.[4] She attended the Latin School of Chicago, earned a bachelor's degree in foreign service from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and a PhD in near-eastern languages and civilizations from Harvard University.[5][6]
In 2011, Jaffer married Daniel Sheffield,[7] an assistant professor in the Near-Eastern Studies Department at Princeton University. They had met at Harvard and have one child.[8][9]
Mayor of Montgomery Township
In 2016, Jaffer launched an unsuccessful write-in campaign for Montgomery Township Committee. The following year she won a seat on the Township Committee on the Democratic ticket. In 2019, she was appointed to the position as mayor by her fellow committee members. She was sworn in on January 3, 2019, becoming the first woman of South Asian descent to serve as mayor of a town in New Jersey, and the first Muslim woman to serve as a mayor in the United States.