Nine candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Congress in New Jersey’s 12th district will take part in a debate at 7 PM tonight, sponsored by the New Jersey Globe and Rider University.
The candidates – Sue Altman, Brad Cohen, Adam Hamawy, Adrian Mapp, Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, Shanel Robinson, Squire Servance, Jay Vaingankar, and Sam Wang – are seeking the seat held for the last twelve years by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), who is not running for re-election.
The 150-minute debate will be streamed on the New Jersey Globe, Facebook Live, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube, and will also air several times on C-SPAN. The debate will be available to voters through the June 2 primary election.
The debate will begin at 7 PM and conclude at 9:30 PM.
New Jersey Globe editor David Wildstein will serve as the debate moderator. Panelists are Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute, and Joey Fox, the New Jersey Globe Washington reporter. Additional questions will come from Rider University students.
The long-form debate format will allow a crowded field of Democrats to answer questions on a broad range of national campaign issues.
The New Jersey Globe invited all thirteen candidates to participate, contingent on meeting criteria for qualifying: raise at least $250,000 through March 31, or receive endorsements of at least five people from the following categories: current county chairs, statewide elected officials, state legislators, countywide elected officials, and mayors, all from within the 12th district or representing a part of the district.
Altman served on U.S. Senator Andy Kim’s staff as state director. She is a former executive director of New Jersey Working Families and was the Democratic nominee in the adjacent 7th district in 2024.
Cohen is a physician and the mayor of East Brunswick.
Hamawy, a physician, is a retired U.S. Army combat trauma surgeon and Lt. Colonel who served in Iraq.
Mapp is the four-term mayor of Plainfield.
Reynolds-Jackson is a five-term assemblywoman and chairs the Assembly Education Committee. She is a former Trenton city councilwoman and Mercer County Democratic chair.
Robinson is a three-term Somerset County Commissioner, a former Franklin Township councilwoman, and a U.S. Air Force veteran.
Servance is a patent lawyer and businessman who serves on the Rutgers University Board of Trustees.
Vaingankar worked in the Biden White House and at the U.S. Department of Energy.
Wang is a neuroscientist at Princeton University and founded the Princeton Gerrymandering Project.
Links to candidate websites: Altman | Cohen | Hamawy | Mapp | Reynolds-Jackson | Robinson | Servance | Vaingankar | Wang
