On Tuesday, Adam Hamawy, candidate for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, met with University community members and town residents at Mamoun’s Falafel to discuss his platform, which includes healthcare and education affordability, increased federal funding for housing, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reform, and criticism of Israel.
Hamawy, a current resident of Princeton who grew up in the district, attended Rutgers New Jersey Medical School before joining the United States Army as a combat trauma surgeon. In 2024, Hamawy volunteered in Gaza as a doctor.
“What I witnessed [in Gaza], I have never witnessed before [in] my entire career … What I saw there was not a war … what I witnessed was a genocide,” Hamawy said.
“I’ve seen that we always have enough money for bombs, but we don’t have enough to take care of our own people here in New Jersey,” he added.
After working around the world for eight years, Hamawy returned to work in the hospitals in the surrounding Princeton area. Hamawy said that his primary goal is healthcare reform.
“It’s harder to deliver healthcare than it was 10 years ago, than it was 20 years ago. I have people that come and see me every day that need surgery [and] can’t afford it … [but] get denied by insurance,” Hamawy said.
Prior to the event at Mamoun’s, Hamawy sat down with The Daily Princetonian to discuss his campaign and the pressing issues facing university students.
Hamawy highlighted the importance of student-led activism. “The biggest issue that we’re faced [with] right now is that we are losing our democracy. We have fascism growing through this country,” Hamawy said. “Free speech is our First Amendment, which we’ve taken for granted. First, we take it away from a small group of people. We take it away from the university students. Before you know it, the whole country is afraid to speak up.”
Hamawy remarked that the problem with how people engage with politics is the failure to hold others accountable. “We know what’s going on is wrong … Our role, especially as university students, is to educate and to speak up and stand up,” he explained.
“We know what’s happening in Gaza and in Sudan and in all these places. It’s a genocide. It is not something that is maybe happening,” he said. “It’s something that I’ve witnessed with my own eyes.”
Following federal funding cuts and threats to American universities from the Trump administration over the last year, Hamawy encouraged all university students and administrators to take action.
“At some point, we need to make a stand. If we’re always giving up on our principles, before you know it, we’re going to have no rights to show for,” he said. “The education that we’re getting at these universities is going to be useless, because it’s going to be like every other dictatorship around the world.”
At the event, Hamawy explicitly called for the abolishment of ICE, which has become the subject of controversy across the country in recent months.
“I’m fighting for our civil rights so that walking through the streets, masked men like ICE can’t come and grab you or kill you. We need to abolish ICE … and we need someone in Congress like me who’s not afraid to say that,” Hamawy said.
Regarding the relationship between representatives and constituents, Hamawy emphasized the importance of communication and transparency in Congress. He told the audience that he would remain committed to representing them if elected.
“My ears are always going to be on the ground, listening to the people, because that’s who I’m going to serve,” Hamawy said.
“We need to create an environment in Congress where people are not afraid to speak up … and know that they are assuring the people in not serving billionaires and not serving special interests in large corporations that are backed by foreign interests,” he added.
Quentin Colón Roosevelt ’27, co-chair of Princeton for Adam — the Princeton branch of Hamawy’s campaign — helped organize the event alongside campaign staff.
“[Hamawy] is the right person to take on the role of Bonnie Watson Coleman [in] Congress. It would be a shame if this election went to someone who’s more moderate than she is because … she represents [the district’s] diversity, politics, [and] policy,” Colón Roosevelt said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’
“[Hamawy] represents continuing on that level of advocacy for this community and for communities all across the globe,” he continued.
A community member raised a question regarding Hamawy’s commitment to his progressive principles, citing House representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a progressive politician who has “abandoned her principles” once joining Congress. Hamawy replied, “A few weeks ago, I went and talked to my mother. She said … ‘They’re all liars.’ So I told her, ‘I plan not to be a liar.’”
“We have a disease in this country, and that’s why I’m going to Washington,” he concluded.
The Democratic primary for U.S. House New Jersey District 12 is on June 2. As of writing, Hamawy is running against 17 other candidates, including Princeton Professor of Neuroscience Sam Wang.
Amaya Taylor is a staff News writer and associate Prospect editor from Memphis, Tenn. She can be reached at amayataylor[at]princeton.edu.
Teresa Chen is a staff News writer from Shanghai, China. She can be reached at tc7069[at]princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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