page_title: Raj Mukherji
section_title: Early life, education, and career
hierarchical_section_title: Raj Mukherji / Early life, education, and career
context_page_description: Raj Mukherji is the Majority Whip of the New Jersey General Assembly. He was first elected to serve as a State Assemblyman in the New Jersey Legislature in 2013 and represents the 33rd Legislative District. He is also a lawyer, medical cannabis and healthcare executive, former Deputy Mayor of Jersey City, former municipal prosecutor, and political science professor. In 2015 and 2017, Mukherji was reelected to a second and third term, respectively. He is the only former Marine and the only Asian American in the General Assembly.
  According to media reports, he started multiple successful businesses before leaving his teens and was sworn into his first public office at age 24.
  At 28, Mukherji on a ticket with Carmelo Garcia won a six-way Democratic primary election for the Assembly by a 36-point margin in 2013 and won the November general election by a 20-point margin, becoming the second South Asian legislator in state history. In 2016 and 2017, Mukherji was identified by POLITICO as the most prolific lawmaker in the state because of his primary sponsorship of more bills signed into law than any other legislator.
context_section_description: Mukherji is the son of Indian American immigrants who arrived from Calcutta in 1970. According to news accounts, he supported himself through high school, college, and grad school as an emancipated minor when economic circumstances forced his parents to return to their native India. After suffering a pituitary tumor, stroke, and other ailments, Mukherji's father – an accountant and musician – could no longer work as a result of his health but could not afford health coverage without employment.
  Labeled a "wunderkind" by the media, Mukherji was previously the CEO of an Internet consulting and software development company that he founded while in the sixth grade. Mukherji later sold the company to a federal contractor to enlist in the Marines two weeks after the September 11 attacks at age 17, where he served as a reservist in military intelligence. The young entrepreneur withdrew from high school at 15 to enroll in an early college program at Bard College at Simon's Rock, eventually earning his bachelor's degree from Thomas A. Edison State University. He also holds a masters from the University of Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Seton Hall Law School, and he has performed on Broadway.
  At 19, Raj cofounded a public affairs firm that he grew into the state's third largest lawyer-lobbying firm, reportedly through his ties to New Jersey Democratic establishments and the Obama administration. He has also been a real estate developer and healthcare entrepreneur, brokering hospital sales and owning a surgery center and other healthcare investments. In 2011, he was named an annual "Legends" honoree by the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce. He has starred on an episode of MTV's Room Raiders and has appeared as a guest commentator on various television news programs.
caption: President Obama discusses urban issues with Jersey City leaders. From right to left: Mukherji, County Executive Tom DeGise, and then-Mayor Jerramiah Healy
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