Adam Hamawy wins crowded Dem primary in 12th District

Adam Hamawy, a Princeton plastic and reconstructive surgeon and Army combat veteran making his first run for elected office, won the Democratic primary Tuesday in the 12th Congressional District, the Associated Press projects.

Hamawy, who led in fundraising, was considered the front-runner in the state’s most crowded primary race, with 12 Democrats running to replace Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman. A former state legislator, Watson Coleman is retiring 12 years after she became the first Black woman to represent the Garden State on Capitol Hill.

Hamawy had endorsements from the party’s most prominent left-leaning members, including Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois (whose life he helped save in 2004, when both served in Iraq) and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.

He will face Republican Gregg Mele, an attorney who ran unopposed for the seat in the GOP primary, in this fall’s midterm elections.

The seat is expected to remain in Democrats’ hands after November. Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 2 to 1 in the district, which covers parts of Mercer, Middlesex, Somerset, and Union counties.