Ex-Middlesex councilman, Army Reserve officer will run for NJ-12

Matt Adams, a former borough councilman and lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, is running for Congress in New Jersey’s 12th congressional district.

He’s not the only one: no fewer than 14 other Democrats have also launched campaigns to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) in the deep-blue Central Jersey district. Adams, though, argued that his background and life experience will help him stand out from the crowded field and earn a seat in Congress.

“I am tied to this community, I love this community,” Adams said. “I feel like I’ve built a pretty good resume to be able to lead and to represent this community.”

The 60-year-old Adams’s one stint in elected office began in 1995, when he was elected to a council seat in the Middlesex Borough, a small town near Piscataway; he left office in 2001 after two terms. He’s also a 30-veteran of the Army Reserve, serving for a time in the New Jersey Army National Guard, and now works as a corporate counsel in the defense industry.

Over that career, Adams said, he’s built up the kind of connections that will help him win his first-ever contested primary. While his campaign is still in its early stages, he noted that he’s already been in contact with the Middlesex County Democrats, whose endorsement may be critical for anyone seeking the sprawling district’s Democratic nomination.

“I’ve been in the district for a long, long time,” he said. “I’ve made a name for myself, and I’ve made a lot of friends. I believe that by leveraging what I’ve done and who I know in my years on the planet, I think I’ll be able to put together a pretty good program where I’ll be competitive.”

If elected, Adams said he’d fight to reassert Congress’s power of the purse and protect everyday Americans, something he argued the current Congress and President Donald Trump have failed to do. 

“We need to take back the authority that belongs to the legislative branch and then, through things like the tax code, align our expenditures with our values,” Adams said. “Should the uber-wealthy have all the tax advantages? No. The uber-wealthy need to pay their share, and we need to let everyday Americans have a break.”

Adams is the sixth current or former local elected official to join the 12th district field, which already includes a state assemblywoman, a county commissioner, and three local mayors. He’s also one of four military veterans or reservists campaigning for the district, alongside U.S. Army veterans Adam Hamawy and Rick Morales and former Air Force reservist Shanel Robinson.