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(Top) 1 Political career 1.1 Committees 1.2 District 37 2 Electoral history 3 References 4 External links

Shama Haider

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Shama Haider

Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 37th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 11, 2022 Serving with Ellen Park
Preceded by	Valerie Huttle Gordon M. Johnson

Personal details
Born	(1948-12-20) December 20, 1948 (age 75)
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Tenafly, New Jersey
Website	www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-roster/452/assemblywoman-haider

Shama Haider (born December 20, 1948) is a Democratic Party politician who represents the 37th legislative district in the New Jersey General Assembly since taking office on January 11, 2022. Along with Sadaf Jaffer, she is one of the first Muslim women to be elected to the New Jersey Legislature.

Political career

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Born and raised in Pakistan, where she attended the University of Punjab,^[1] Haider served as Secretary to the First Lady of Pakistan Nusrat Bhutto. Haider emigrated to the United States in 1977. She was elected in both 2001 and 2015 to serve on the Tenafly, New Jersey Borough Council. In the November 2021 general election, she was elected together with her running mates Gordon M. Johnson to the Senate and Ellen Park in the Assembly, making her one of the first two Muslim woman to serve in the state legislature.^[2]^[3]

She has served in the Assembly since 2024 as Deputy Majority Leader.^[1]

Committees

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Committee assignments for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:^[1]

Children, Families and Food Security (as chair)
Appropriations
Health

District 37

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Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly.^[4] The representatives from the 37th District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:^[5]

Senator Gordon M. Johnson (D)
Assemblywoman Shama Haider (D)
Assemblywoman Ellen Park (D)

Electoral history

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37th Legislative District General Election, 2023^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ellen J. Park (incumbent)	26,942	36.4
	Democratic	Shama A. Haider (incumbent)	25,943	35.0
	Republican	Robert Bedoya	10,673	14.4
	Republican	Katherine Lebovics	10,526	14.2
Total votes			74,084	100.0
	Democratic hold
	Democratic hold

37th legislative district general election, 2021^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ellen J. Park	33,532	33.77%
	Democratic	Shama A. Haider	32,797	33.03%
	Republican	Edward P. Durfee Jr.	16,193	16.31%
	Republican	Perley V. Patrick	15,863	15.97%
	Children&Seniors First	Natacha M. Pannell	923	0.93%
Total votes			99,308	100.0
	Democratic hold

References

[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c Assemblywoman Shama A. Haider, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 29, 2024.

^ Adely, Hannan. "Bergen's Shama Haider makes history as first Muslim elected to NJ Legislature", The Record, November 3, 2021. Accessed November 7, 2021. "That changed on Election Day, however, when former Tenafly councilwoman Shama Haider won the race for state Assembly in the 37th District in Bergen County.... Haider, 72, has been active in local politics for over two decades, serving on the Tenafly Borough Council twice in terms beginning in 2001 and in 2015."

^ Difilippo, Dana. "Trailblazing scholar heads to the N.J. Assembly with eye on public access", New Jersey Monitor, January 3, 2022. Accessed January 29, 2024. "Sadaf Jaffer is used to being first.... When she gets sworn in next week as one of the newest members of the New Jersey Assembly, she and fellow newcomer Shama Haider will be the first Muslims to serve in the Legislature."

^ New Jersey State Constitution 1947 (Updated Through Amendments Adopted in November, 2020): Article IV, Section II, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2022.

^ Legislative Roster for District 37, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 29, 2024.

^ "Candidates for General Assembly - For GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2023 Election" (PDF). New Jersey Department of State. Retrieved December 6, 2023.

^ "Official List, Candidates for General Assembly For GENERAL ELECTION 11/02/2021 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 30, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.