Justice Democrats, which has helped propel a number of the country’s most left-wing politicians into Congress, is setting its sights on New Jersey.
Adam Hamawy, a physician and Army veteran running for the state’s open 12th congressional district, officially joined the Justice Democrats’ 2026 slate this morning. The endorsement – one of just over a dozen the organization has made around the country – further elevates Hamawy’s progressive bona fides and profile in a race that has so far flown below the national radar.
“From war zones to the operating room, Dr. Hamawy has seen firsthand how our government’s misplaced priorities mean life and death for millions of people in America and across the world,” Justice Democrats executive director Alexandra Rojas said in a statement. “Being a doctor and veteran has only opened his eyes further to how desperately everyone in our healthcare system needs Medicare for All and why we must put an end to a US government-backed war machine funding genocide and destruction abroad.”
Hamawy is far from the only progressive Democrat seeking to represent the 12th district, where Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) – long considered the state’s leftmost member of Congress – is retiring. Many of Hamawy’s 12 Democratic primary opponents have their own lengthy histories as liberal activists or legislators and could lay claim to part of the field’s progressive “lane,” to the extent one exists.
Hamawy, though, has made forceful support for Palestine and opposition to Israel’s war efforts a centerpiece of his campaign in a way most of his opponents have declined to match, catching the attention of Justice Democrats as well as a coalition of Palestine-focused PACs and groups. (Based on early fundraising numbers, he’s also set to be among the best-funded candidates in the race.)
His new endorsement from Justice Democrats will likely increase attention on the race outside of New Jersey, putting the district at the center of national battles over the future of the Democratic Party. That will only become more true if the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has been on the opposite side from Justice Democrats in a number of races around the country, chooses to get involved, a possibility many 12th district candidates are preparing for.
Justice Democrats was founded during the 2018 election cycle, when left-wing politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar first burst onto the national scene. The group made two endorsements in New Jersey that cycle, Tanzie Youngblood in the 2nd district and Peter Jacob in the 7th district, but didn’t provide much material aid, and neither came anywhere close to winning against more moderate, party-backed foes.
In subsequent election cycles, Justice Democrats narrowed its focus to only a handful of winnable races, with greater success; none of those races had been in New Jersey until now. So far this election cycle, the group’s endorsed non-incumbent candidates have gone one for four in Democratic primaries, though all three unsuccessful candidates were the runners-up in their races and finished a few points behind the more moderate victor.
Notably not among the 2026 Justice Democrat endorsee slate: Analilia Mejia, who won an upset victory in last month’s 11th district special primary with the support of Bernie Sanders and other progressive luminaries. Mejia, though, relied on the local New Jersey organizations and unions she’s worked with for years to power her victory; Hamawy, a relative newcomer to the state political world, may not have that same luxury.
