NJ-6 independent tossed from ballot after coming up short on signatures
Inder Jit Soni withdrew his withdrawal, judge preparing written decision
By David Wildstein, June 09 2026 12:24 pm
Inder Jit Soni’s independent bid for a congressional seat in New Jersey’s 6th district came to an end after Administrative Law Judge Edward Delanoy found that he didn’t get enough signatures to be on the ballot.
The leaves a two-candidate general election between Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-Long Branch) and Republican Hillary Herzig. Herzig challenged Soni’s petitions.
Soni, a 75-year-old Edison resident who describes himself as an international banker, submitted 254 signatures on his nominating petition – just four more than he needed. Delanoy struck 30 signatures before stopping the challenge. He asked the judge for an extra ten or twenty days to get more signatures; that was unsuccessful.
After initially saying that he planned to withdraw from the race, Soni changed his mind after a lengthy speech and decided he wanted Delanoy to prepare a written decision.
“I tried to m…