In brief
Adam Hamawy, a former Army surgeon and Gaza volunteer, won the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, becoming the state’s first Muslim American congressman. His campaign was defined by a platform of "healthcare not bombs" after witnessing devastation in Gaza. Hamawy’s victory faced anti‑Muslim attacks but was celebrated as a significant step for diversity and advocacy.
In Plainsboro, New Jersey, Adam Hamawy was declared the winner of the Democratic primary for the state’s 12th Congressional District, becoming New Jersey’s first Muslim American elected to the U.S. Congress. The 56‑year‑old former army surgeon and Gaza volunteer was celebrated by supporters who gathered to share a hopeful message he said he had drawn from the people he had met in the Middle East.
Hamawy’s life has spanned a range of emergency situations. He served as a first responder after the September 11 attacks and as a combat surgeon in Iraq. In 2024 and 2025 he traveled on medical missions to Gaza, where he saw the effects of ongoing conflict and felt unable to return to a normal life. These experiences shaped his decision to enter politics and focus on the wounded, both literally and figuratively, in war‑torn areas.
The candidate built his platform around the slogan healthcare not bombs, pledging to challenge what he described as a system that “funds genocide (in Gaza) while trapping us all in medical debt.” He called for ending U.S. aid that supports the Israeli military and for stronger domestic health protections.
Hamawy’s bid was met with a wave of attacks that he called “anti‑Muslim.” He was also scrutinized over his past affiliation with a sheikh who was later convicted of seditious conspiracy. Despite these obstacles, the National Democratic Committee and the American‑Arab Anti‑Discrimination Committee welcomed his victory, noting it as a sign of progress for principled candidates.
To the men, women and children of Gaza and Palestine: Your smiles give me the hope and the courage to fight for a better world, the Egyptian‑American surgeon told the crowd in Plainsboro. Adam Hamawy added: I have never seen anti‑Muslim hate as open and as loud and as accepted as it is today.
His path to Congress was a culmination of a winding journey that began when his family moved from Egypt to New Jersey as a baby. Growing up in Old Bridge, he won a scholarship to Rutgers University, earned a medical degree from New Jersey Medical School, and joined the New Jersey Army Reserve before rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
On election night, Hamawy’s win was one of eight Muslim Americans to secure seats across the country, as Democrats took commanding control of both chambers of Congress. For many in the Muslim American community, his success was a milestone that demonstrated how faith and public service can intersect in the political arena.
While the campaign trail was short, the message behind Hamawy’s impending tenure is clear: a pledge to keep his voice at the intersection of healthcare advocacy and anti‑war activism, shaped by the stark realities he witnessed in Gaza.
