New Jersey — 12th District

A doctor, two mayors, an organizer, and an assemblywoman walk into a primary.

So do eight other Democrats.

That’s the situation in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman’s retirement announcement last November set off a primary scramble for one of the safest Democratic seats in the state.

Of the baker’s dozen on the ballot, five candidates have at least one of the ingredients needed to win: money, name recognition, or institutional backing.

They are Dr. Adam Hamawy, a plastic surgeon and Army veteran; Sue Altman, a well-known progressive organizer and former Andy Kim aide; Brad Cohen, the longtime East Brunswick mayor and OB-GYN; Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, a Trenton lawmaker with deep roots in the district’s most Democratic county; and Adrian Mapp, who has been the mayor of Plainfield for more than a dozen years.

A single candidate, Gregg Mele, is running in the Republican primary, but the district is reliably and deeply blue, with Watson Coleman winning her last race with more than 61% of the vote.

In other words, whoever wins the Democratic primary on June 2 is almost certain to be the next member of Congress from a seat that covers parts of Mercer, Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties.

The quirks of the district, which is home to pockets of wealth and poverty, as well as urban and suburban communities alike, are reflected in the crowded field, according to Daniel Bowen, a political scientist at the College of New Jersey.

“The differences between Trenton and East Brunswick and Princeton are massive,” said Bowen, who lives in the district. “You can see those in all the candidates.”

And with a new primary system that reduces the power of party leaders once had to propel their hand-picked candidates, what would usually be manageable intra-party transition has turned into a brawl over Gaza, affordability and the soul of the modern Democratic Party. And it’s all coming in the shadow of a president who has given every candidate in the race the same villain to run against.

The big field of candidates means the winning threshold could be surprisingly low.

“You might only need 15 or 20 percent of the vote to win this primary,” Bowen said. “If the vote can be split among three or four or five strong candidates, it’s anyone’s ballgame.”

Here’s what you need to know about the state of the race:

The Million-Dollar Newcomer

Adam Hamawy

Background: A plastic surgeon based in Princeton, Hamawy, 53, spent eight years in the New Jersey National Guard’s Medical Corps and deployed to Baghdad’s 31st Combat Support Hospital during the Iraq War, where he operated on hundreds of service members and civilians.

He later became a lieutenant colonel and was part of the medical team that saved the life of Sen. Tammy Duckworth after her helicopter was struck by a grenade.

In 2024, he traveled on a volunteer medical mission to Gaza. He has never held elected office.

The pitch: Hamawy is running as the race’s unambiguous progressive, calling for Medicare for All, abolishing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, dismantling the Department of Homeland Security and canceling medical and student debt.

He is also the only candidate who has labeled the war in Gaza a “genocide,” and has said he supports imposing a full arms embargo on Israel.

With a biography that includes combat vet, surgeon, and small-town doctor, he has pushed back on the progressive label arguing his message has broader reach.

“My message of healthcare, not bombs, is not just for progressives,” he told NJ.com. “It has resonated with moderates and even Republicans who want our tax dollars spent on the issues we face at home.”

If elected, he would be New Jersey’s first Muslim congressman.

Money and momentum: Hamawy has raised more than $1 million for his campaign, more than any candidate in the race, much of it from small donors in the Muslim and Arab American communities.

On top of that, American Priorities, a newly formed pro-Palestine super PAC created to counter AIPAC, has already spent $600,000 on his behalf in television advertising, pledging to bring that total up to $2 million.

The ad blitz has propelled him, according to an internal poll conducted for his campaign. No independent polling has been conducted in the race.

Hamawy boasts a lineup of endorsements straight out of a progressive’s fantasy bracket, from the likes of Sens. Duckworth and Bernie Sanders to Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar.

“From someone who just follows New Jersey politics, it seems like Hamawy came out of nowhere,” Bowen said. “The endorsements he’s racked up from the national Democratic Party are quite impressive — and surprising.”

As for the super PAC spending: “It’s not abnormal if you’re an incumbent,” Bowen said. “But for a challenger in an open primary, someone who doesn’t have really tight connections to party leadership? That’s a surprise.”

The vulnerabilities: Hamawy has faced criticism and questions over his 1995 testimony as a defense witness for Omar Abdel-Rahman, the so-called “Blind Sheikh,” who was convicted of conspiring to bomb the World Trade Center.

As resurfaced by a number of right-wing news outlets earlier this month, Hamawy, then a medical student, was briefly called to the stand to rebut a prosecution witness’s testimony that Abdel-Rahman had voiced support for the assassination of Egypt’s then-president.

Hamawy called the resurrection of his testimony a “desperate smear campaign” and a “completely ridiculous and offensive” attempt to tie him to anti-American hate.

“The man in question was one of very few religious figures in what was then a very small Muslim community in New Jersey – I saw him speak in religious settings in my early 20s,“ he said. ”I condemn his violent rhetoric and actions.”

As for why he testified at all: “As an officer of the military, I thought it was an important civic duty to share with the court what I heard and uphold the system of laws and justice I swore to defend,” he said.

Hamawy added that he had no contact with Abdel-Rahman, who was sentenced to life in prison and died in 2017, after the latter was arrested.

Notably, Hamawy’s Democratic opponents have not latched onto this talking point, preferring to criticize him for taking money from an out-of-state super PAC and for his stance on Israel.

The Point Guard

Sue Altman

Background: Altman, 44, spent years as the Working Families Party’s New Jersey executive director before becoming state director for Sen. Andy Kim, a position she held until earlier this year.

In 2024, she ran for Congress in the neighboring 7th District — a competitive, Republican-leaning seat — and lost to GOP Rep. Tom Kean Jr. by roughly five points despite raising more than $6 million.

Before she was a progressive organizer, Altman was a basketball player, winning All-Ivy honors at Columbia University, then playing professionally in Ireland and Germany before earning two master’s degrees from Oxford.

She came back to New Jersey as a teacher and coach, leading two teams to state championships before trading the sideline for the Statehouse fight.

She is arguably the best-known candidate in the race.

The pitch: Altman is positioning herself as a battle-tested progressive who knows how to fight in tough terrain — someone who has already taken on AIPAC directly, already run a competitive congressional race, and already built the relationships with donors and labor unions that a freshman member needs on day one.

She has the endorsement of the Working Families Party, New Jersey Citizen Action and a raft of progressive labor groups.

Money and momentum: She raised $406,375 in the first quarter — third in fundraising behind Hamawy and Brad Cohen — and had roughly $273,000 on hand.

She entered the race as an early frontrunner and has struggled to maintain that position as Hamawy’s money has poured in.

The vulnerabilities: The most persistent rap on Altman is that she is recalibrating her positions to match the district she’s running in.

In 2024, she ran on a pro-Israel platform in the swing 7th District, publicly supporting U.S. aid to Israel while distancing herself from the national positions of the Working Families Party.

In the 12th, she has “re-evaluated” that stance, now opposing U.S. weapons transfers to Israel and calling Netanyahu a war criminal while declining to go as far as Hamawy in criticizing the war.

Asked directly whether what is happening in Gaza constitutes a genocide, she said: “I’m comfortable with saying Netanyahu is a war criminal,” she told NJ.com.

Bowen said straddling the issue is a risky play this late in a primary.

“It’s easier to pick a side,” he said. “Not picking a side becomes much harder when it becomes a turnout battle and you need your zealous supporters to come out to the polls for you.”

She has also faced fire from the other direction: a dark money PAC based in Texas began running ads against her campaign in recent weeks.

Altman has leaned into it. “They don’t boo nobodies,” she said, using a line made famous by baseball great Reggie Jackson. “Powerful people do not want me in Congress because they know I will fight against them for everyday people.”

The Pro-Israel Candidate

Brad Cohen

Background: Cohen, 62, has been the mayor of East Brunswick since 2017 and an OB-GYN at St. Peter’s Physician Associates for decades.

He spent six years on the East Brunswick Board of Education before running for mayor, and is known locally for revamping the township’s Route 18 commercial corridor.

The pitch: Cohen is running as the race’s most unabashedly pro-Israel candidate and a credible civic manager, billing himself as someone who has kept property taxes flat, shepherded development, and demonstrated that he can win and govern in a diverse suburban community.

He has been careful to steer conversations toward kitchen-table issues, arguing that the district’s voters are more focused on affordability, health care, and fighting Trump than on Gaza.

On Israel, he has tried to thread a needle that his opponents argue can’t be threaded.

“Just like we can support the United States without supporting Donald Trump, we can support Israel without supporting Netanyahu,” he told NJ.com.

He has the backing of the Middlesex County Democratic Committee after winning 67 percent of the vote at its convention.

Money and momentum: Cohen raised $424,371 overall through the first quarter of the year — second-highest in total haul.

The Middlesex endorsement, historically one of the most coveted in Central Jersey, gives him structural ground-game advantages that may matter more than polling averages in a low-turnout primary.

He has also leaned hard into his medical biography.

“I have had to tell women who desperately wanted a baby that their pregnancies would endanger them,” he said. “I have had to examine sexual assault survivors who were pregnant with their rapist’s baby. What is happening to women’s health in this country is an abomination.”

The vulnerabilities: Cohen’s pro-Israel stance could be a liability in a deep-blue district.

He has been singled out by Watson Coleman, who has declined to endorse in the race, as someone she specifically did not want to see succeed her.

“He’s a hardline supporter of Netanyahu, who is a despot, a corrupt leader,” the congresswoman told the New Jersey Globe in February.

Cohen has said Watson Coleman is “mischaracterizing” him as a hardliner.

More broadly, Cohen is running without the national profile, media platform, or insurgent energy that has powered Hamawy and Altman. While he has touted his pro-Israel bona fides, the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee has thus far declined to endorse him.

In a race without county lines, it’s an open question how far the Middlesex machine can carry him beyond his home turf.

The Trenton Candidate

Verlina Reynolds-Jackson

Background: Reynolds-Jackson, 55, is currently serving her fifth term as a member of the state Assembly representing parts of Mercer County, including Trenton.

A former social worker, she was the first African American woman elected as East Ward councilwoman in Trenton and later served as council vice president before winning her Assembly seat in 2018.

During her tenure in Trenton, she has sponsored more than 600 bills and co-sponsored more than 1,000, including the John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act of New Jersey.

The pitch: Reynolds-Jackson is the race’s deepest institutional Democrat — a candidate who has spent nearly a decade in the legislature, has the Mercer County Democratic Committee’s endorsement locked up, and carries an implicit argument for Black political representation in a district that has been represented for 12 years by a Black woman.

Her platform emphasizes health care access, paid family leave, criminal justice reform, and protecting the democratic process.

She has picked up endorsements from the Communications Workers of America and the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters.

Money and momentum: Her fundraising has been the race’s most visible structural weakness. She raised just $216,049 overall through the first quarter — less than half of Altman’s total and a fraction of Hamawy’s.

The vulnerabilities: Reynolds-Jackson’s fundraising disadvantage limits her ability to introduce herself to voters beyond her base, and unlike Altman or Hamawy, she does not have a national network or a flashpoint issue driving small-dollar donations.

She also may be the candidate most aligned with Watson Coleman’s record and politics, but Watson Coleman has conspicuously declined to endorse anyone — depriving her of the validation that would be a major boost in a crowded field.

The Plainfield Mayor

Adrian Mapp

Background: A certified public accountant by trade, Mapp, 68, immigrated to the United States from Barbados in 1977 and eventually landed in Plainfield, where he has been mayor since 2013.

Before that, he served as a city councilman and county commissioner.

Under his tenure, Plainfield attracted more than $2 billion in new development, restored healthcare services to the shuttered Muhlenberg campus, and implemented community policing reforms in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.

The pitch: Mapp is running essentially the same race as Cohen — experienced municipal executive, kitchen-table issues, results over rhetoric — but without an emphasis on Israel and with a biography that plays better in a district that is majority non-white.

“All of the other candidates can talk,” he told the Daily Princetonian. “They have these ideas, and they have not done the work.”

His platform emphasizes affordable housing, health care access, public safety and tax reform, and he has pushed for democratic reforms within the county committee system even as he benefits from Union County’s endorsement.

Money and momentum: Mapp raised $369,247 overall (more than Reynolds-Jackson) and holds the Union County Democratic Committee endorsement.

State Senate President Nick Scutari and a raft of other mayors — none of them, notably, located in the 12th District — have also come out in support of his candidacy.

He has received no notable national endorsements and has generated little coverage outside of local outlets.

The vulnerabilities: In a race dominated by flashpoint issues and outside money, Mapp is running a studiously unglamorous campaign that has struggled to break through.

His most memorable moment in the race may be the wrong kind: his campaign had ties to one of the petition challengers who spent 14 hours in a Zoom hearing trying to knock Altman off the ballot over petition irregularities — a maneuver that ultimately ended in failure.

The Underdogs

Eight other Democrats are on the ballot, and while all are clear underdogs, their presence matters: in a race this fragmented, a candidate pulling 3 or 4 percent from one of the frontrunners’ bases could be a difference-maker.

Sam Wang is arguably the race’s most intellectually interesting member of the pack. (The New Yorker certainly thinks so, profiling his candidacy for its “Talk of the Town” section last month.)

A Princeton neuroscience professor and the founder of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, Wang is also one of the men most responsible for dismantling New Jersey’s county-line ballot system — the reform that theoretically makes a race with so many candidates possible.

Shanel Robinson, the Somerset County Commission director and an Air Force veteran, has the Somerset County Democratic Committee endorsement and a platform heavy on affordability and health care.

Watson Coleman pointedly named her as one of five acceptable successors.

Jay Vaingankar, a former Biden White House and Energy Department aide, has raised $261,350 and has the endorsement of former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

He is young, policy-fluent, and running a campaign built around clean energy and affordability. He also appeared in a Hindi-language campaign ad that briefly went viral after it was attacked by a right-wing influencer.

Squire Servance, a patent and life sciences attorney and Rutgers University board trustee, has raised $268,556, about $180,000 of it self-funded.

He is the field’s corporate lawyer, and his debate performances have been sharp enough that he has quietly become a name to watch if the race produces a surprise.

Three other candidates — Matt Adams, a retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel and former Middlesex councilman; Kyle Little, who owns a chain of fitness studios; and Sujit Singh, a technology consultant — are running campaigns that are unlikely to affect the outcome except at the margins.

The final candidate, Elijah Dixon, a Trenton entrepreneur, dropped out in April and threw his support behind Hamawy. He withdrew his candidacy too late to remove his name from the ballot.

Bowen, the TCNJ professor, said what he’ll watch most closely is how each campaign actually moves its voters.

“I’m really fascinated to know how each of these candidates might be trying to motivate their core supporters to turn out in a June primary,” he said, “when there’s lots of other stuff they could be doing.”