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]
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.
Jaffer ran for New Jersey General Assembly in the 16th district after incumbent Andrew Zwicker decided to run for New Jersey State Senate. She was endorsed by several progressive groups, including #VOTEPROCHOICE.[10] After trailing behind Republican Vinny Panico for the second Assembly seat by nearly 300 votes in data published the night of the election[11] she won alongside Roy Freiman in the final results, more than 2,500 votes ahead of Panico.[12]
Committees
Committee assignments for the current session are:[13]
^Wildstein, David. "Freiman re-elected, Jaffer likely winner of 16th district Assembly seat", New Jersey Globe, November 5, 2021. Accessed January 23, 2022. "Jaffer, who trailed on election night and was ahead by less than 300 votes on Thursday, has now opened up an 801-vote lead against Republican Vinny Panico, a former president of the Central Hunterdon Regional Board of Education."