[7] Ravinder Singh Bhalla was born in Passaic, New Jersey,[8][failed verification] and raised in Woodland Park (then called West Paterson.

[10][11] Bhalla was a civil rights attorney at the law firm of Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt & Fader, who have represented NJ Transit.

The high school had implemented a policy of random drug-testing of students participating in any extracurricular activities or who have a parking permit, and the three students filed a lawsuit in New Jersey State Court alleging the school's drug-testing policy violated their rights according to the New Jersey Constitution.

[16] Bhalla wrote an amicus curae for the federal court case of married couple Harpal Singh Cheema and Rajwinder Kaur.

Their asylum application was later disapproved, and they were trying to fight that decision so they could remain in the U.S.[17][18] Cheema lost his appeal and was deported to India, where he was arrested at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined that Kherha had indeed suffered religious discrimination, and the parties settled the case.

[20] Bhalla ran for an at-large seat on the Hoboken City Council in 2009 on incumbent mayor Dawn Zimmer's ticket.

During Bhalla's campaign, he emphasized fiscal responsibility, slowing down development, increasing the amount of affordable housing, lower city property taxes, and transparency in government.

[21] In the runoff election, Bhalla received 17% of the vote, winning an at-large seat on the Hoboken City Council for a four-year term in office.

[32] When incumbent Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer decided not to run for reelection, she endorsed Bhalla in a surprise press conference.

[38] In 2018, Bhalla was censured by the New Jersey Supreme Court after a disciplinary board chided him for not setting aside over $6,000 for a former employee's retirement account between 2008 and 2009.

[42] In 2024, the former Hoboken Health and Human Services Director filed a lawsuit alleging quid pro quo, retaliation, and defamation by Mayor Bhalla.

[44] In December 2023, Bhalla announced he would challenge incumbent U.S. Representative Rob Menendez in New Jersey's 8th congressional district in the 2024 election.

He celebrated the decision, having signed an amicus curiae brief in support of the lawsuit originally brought by Congressman Andy Kim, who Bhalla endorsed in the 2024 Senate election.

[48] An April poll conducted by a Global Strategy Group affiliated PAC showed Bhalla with a five-point lead over Menendez in the primary.