TRENTON, NJ (TIP): Former U.S. Food and Drug Administration official Dr Rik Mehta has won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate from New Jersey and will take on incumbent Democrat Cory Booker in the general election in November.

Mehta defeated another Indian American Hirsh Singh by 12,532 votes, 39%-34%. Mehta is the first Asian American to win a statewide primary election.

“Thank you to voters who voted for me and the Republican and conservative leaders statewide who embraced our campaign from the start as the only one capable of attracting new voters to the Republican ranks, defeating Cory Booker in November, and lifting down ballot candidates in key congressional, special legislative, county, and local races”, Mehta said in a statement.

Dr. Rik Mehta is a biotech entrepreneur, innovator, healthcare policy expert and a licensed pharmacist and attorney. Trained at world-renowned Rutgers University as a pharmacist and lawyer, Dr. Mehta worked at the United States Food and Drug Administration as a Consumer Safety Officer to advance policies to expedite and increase access to quality, affordable drugs and health care. He also enforced against pharmaceutical companies taking millions of illegal prescription opioids off the market.