Adam Hamawy, doctor who volunteered in Gaza, wins House race
Once sworn in, Hamawy will become New Jersey’s first Muslim member of Congress.
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK — Adam Hamawy, a surgeon who volunteered in Gaza, won a seat in the US House on Tuesday, defeating Republican Gregg Mele in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District.
Hamawy has so far received 74.8% of the vote, with 27% of the ballots counted, according to The Associated Press, which called the race at around 8:26 p.m. ET.
A Democrat and former US Army combat surgeon, Hamawy built his campaign in part around his experience treating patients in conflict zones, including in Gaza, where he served on medical missions organized by the Palestinian American Medical Association and coordinated by the World Health Organization in 2024 and 2025 amid Israel’s war in the territory.
According to his campaign website, Hamawy has also volunteered to treat patients in Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, Jordan, Turkey, Bosnia, Haiti, Belize and Colombia.
Hamawy, 57, served eight years as a surgeon in the US Army, including a nine-month deployment to the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad during the Iraq War.
He grew up in New Jersey after his family immigrated from Egypt when he was an infant. He attended Rutgers University and its medical school, and later earned an MBA from Rutgers. After completing his military service, he returned to New Jersey, where he established a private plastic surgery practice in Princeton.
New Jersey has a large Arab American community numbering around 179,000. The Egyptian American population has grown particularly rapidly, and Hamawy’s district includes around 11,000 Arab Americans, according to the Arab American Institute.
Hamawy has called for an end to US military aid to Israel and, more broadly, has said he opposes US military aid to countries committing human rights violations.
He has opposed the ongoing war with Iran, calling it “illegal and immoral” in an interview with the New Jersey Monitor in May, and accusing the US of “catering to special interests of the defense contractors and war mongers and with organizations like [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] AIPAC and Israel’s special interests.”
On domestic policy, Hamawy has advocated expanding health care access, increasing public school funding and lowering costs for working-class families.
New Jersey’s 12th District has been represented by Democrat Bonnie Watson Coleman since 2015. Watson Coleman announced in November 2025 that she would not seek reelection, leaving the seat open for the first time in more than a decade.
Hamawy will be New Jersey’s first Muslim and first Arab American elected to the US House. He will also be the second Egyptian American to serve in Congress, following Democrat George Helmy, who was appointed to the US Senate in 2024 after the resignation of Bob Menendez.
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