Notable personal detailsJay Vaingankar is a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District in the 2026 cycle. He previously served in the Biden administration, including as a Special Assistant in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Policy and as a Special Assistant to the Director of Management and Administration at the White House. He has run a campaign under the name “Jay Vaingankar for Jersey.”