Egyptian Plastic Surgeon Adam Hamawy Wins New Jersey 12th District Democratic Primary

Adam Hamawy, an Egyptian-born plastic surgeon and former U.S. Army combat surgeon, won the Democratic primary for an open seat in the United States House of Representatives for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, putting him on track to face Republican Gregg Mele on November 3.

Al Jazeera said Hamawy’s victory puts him “on track to represent New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District,” and it framed his candidacy around firsthand experience of Israel’s war on Gaza.

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In a separate account, Democracy Now! described Hamawy as “the former U.S. Army combat surgeon who just won the Democratic nomination in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District,” and said he is now the heavy favorite to win in November.

The sources also tie the campaign to Hamawy’s Gaza work in 2024, where he spoke from Gaza about patients and hospital personnel leaving after the invasion of Rafah.

Democracy Now! added that Hamawy’s endorsements include Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, while it also cited Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth’s support after her helicopter was shot down in Iraq in 2004.

Hamawy’s campaign drew prominent progressive backing, with Democracy Now! quoting him saying, “I was running on something very simple: that we should be spending on healthcare, not bombs,” as he criticized the $1 trillion Pentagon budget.

The same interview included Hamawy’s statement that “We need to be spending some of that right here at home,” linking his Gaza experience to a domestic agenda that includes universal healthcare and tuition-free public college.

Al Jazeera

Muslim Network TV said Hamawy’s victory came after he emerged from a field of 13 Democratic candidates with roughly 27 to 28 per cent of the vote, and it described the district as stretching across central New Jersey from Trenton to Plainfield.

Muslim Network TV also said Tammy Duckworth endorsed Hamawy after he helped save her life following her helicopter being struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, and it described Duckworth as remaining a vocal supporter.

In contrast, Muslim Network TV reported that New York Republican Representative Mike Lawler questioned the nomination and called for an investigation into Hamawy’s associations should he be elected.

Multiple sources connect Hamawy’s candidacy to a push to change U.S. policy toward Israel and Gaza, with Al Jazeera saying he hopes to help steer the House to confront Israel’s “genocidal war” and the US role in it.

“Adam Hamawy, a plastic surgeon, army veteran and conflict-zone medical worker, has won a crowded Democratic primary for an open seat in the United States House of Representatives”

Al Jazeera

In Democracy Now!, Hamawy argued for cutting off arms sales and said, “We have proved once and for all that there is no such thing as ‘progressive except for Palestine,’” while also calling to abolish ICE and “unrig this economy once and for all.”

Muslim Network TV said Hamawy would succeed retiring Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, and it described his likely path as reflecting “the growing electoral viability of candidates who openly criticise Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”

Al Jazeera also placed the stakes in Congress’s role in approving “the billions of dollars in military aid the US provides annually to Israel,” and it said Congress can pass legislation to block arms transfers.

Together, the sources portray November’s general election as a test of whether a candidate defined by Gaza medical work and a platform rejecting continued U.S. military aid can win New Jersey’s 12th district, where Democrats have held the seat firmly for years.