Progressives seek to consolidate hungry base in NJ-12 as primary day approaches

The campaign to succeed Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) in New Jersey’s 12th congressional district has drawn campaigns from a dozen Democrats, including a pair of progressives with outsider bona fides. 

Adam Hamawy, a former Army combat surgeon who helped save the life of Senator Tammy Duckworth, is a political newcomer, but his staunch progressivism and criticism of Israel have led to a surge in the polls and a guest appearance from a famous left-wing commentator.

Sue Altman, an organizer who helped kickstart the reform movement that has dominated the Garden State’s politics in recent years, has hit the trail with the backing of officials and organizations who laud her advocacy over the last 15 years.

Both are on the ballot for Tuesday’s primary, when an antsy Democratic electorate must sift through a race that also contains a state assemblywoman, two mayors, a county commissioner, and more. On Saturday, in two events showing the contrast that can exist even within the progressive wing of the party, Hamawy and Altman rallied to hype up their supporters before they hit the sidewalks to squeeze every vote out of the 12th district.

In a restaurant on the banks of the Delaware River, a tall 34-year-old hopped onto the stage to the cheers of 200 people. Hasan Piker, a leftist live-streamer born in New Brunswick, was in town to energize Hamawy’s get-out-the-vote efforts in the final weekend of primary season.

Piker, who regularly hosts hourslong discussions on news and politics, has 3.1 million followers on the streaming platform Twitch; a socialist, he advocates for sweeping economic reform and harshly criticizes Israel for its strikes on Gaza. As Piker’s star has grown, so too has his desire to influence the politics he commentates on. He has rallied with progressive candidates like Hamawy across the country, even as many other Democrats shun him for comments considered anti-Semitic.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly), one of Congress’ staunchest supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship, penned an essay in the New York Times condemning Democrats who engage with Piker. Gottheimer pointed to comments from the streamer, including that “America deserved 9/11” and that Israeli and Orthodox Jews are “inbred,” statements Piker later apologized for. But Piker says his criticisms of Israel’s conduct in Palestine still hold merit and that anti-Zionism should not be conflated with anti-Semitism.

Piker discussed the controversy before introducing Hamawy to the stage on Saturday.

“I’ve worked with candidates in the past, but never to this degree, and they’re really making me suffer for it. I’ve been called a dangerous radical, an anti-Semite, a terrorist,” Piker said to boos from the crowd. “But do you know what they don’t call me? A liar.”

Despite the criticism, Piker continues to hold sway, especially with young progressives dismayed with the path of the Democratic Party; Piker and his supporters want a Democratic Party that acts boldly to counter ICE and support Palestinians. A clear majority of the rally’s attendees were under 35, a rarity for political events. One attendee said that most of today’s young leftists have at one point tuned into Piker’s regular livestreams.

His backers hope that Tuesday proves a Hamawy-style campaign doesn’t have to be relegated to the fringes of the Democratic Party, and they have good reason to think they’ll succeed. Hamawy leads the 12-person field — which includes an assemblywoman and two mayors — in fundraising and in a recent internal poll.

“For far too long, we’ve all plugged our nose, and voted for Democrats because of harm reduction,” Piker said. “But now with this new slate of insurgent candidates with the likes of Dr. H, you now have an opportunity to vote for something, not against something.”

Progressive groups are flexing their muscles to capitalize on the opportunity. American Priorities PAC, a new pro-Palestine spending group, announced plans to spend $2 million backing Hamawy’s campaign. The group acts as something of a counterweight to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which often spends huge sums to target anti-Israel candidates like Hamawy, but stayed out of this primary. AIPAC has become a top target for progressives — some of the loudest cheers of the afternoon came when Hamawy condemned corporate PAC and AIPAC money.

Hamawy also has support from Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), the country’s preeminent progressives. Sanders hosted a similarly energetic rally for now-Rep. Analilia Mejia in the days before her 11th district primary victory.

“We all deserve to thrive in New Jersey,” Hamawy said. “I’m running because we need a fighter in the seat. We need courage. We need courage to challenge a system that enriches and emboldens the powerful and the corrupt.”

Saturday’s rally, thus far the marquee event of Hamawy’s campaign, hosted several leaders of the strengthening progressive movement. One was Pennsylvania State Rep. Chris Rabb, a progressive who won a contested congressional primary in Philadelphia despite lacking the endorsements or funding of his competitors. Another was Josh Paul, who resigned from the State Department in 2023 to protest Israeli airstrikes in Gaza in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.

Hamawy touts the issues that motivate the far-left flanks of the Democratic Party. In his speech, he called for the abolition of ICE, the dismantling of the Department of Homeland Security, tuition-free public universities, an end to spending on “illegal and immoral wars,” and an unrigging of the economy from “billionaire oligarchs.”

“New Jersey does not crave the politics of fear,” Hamawy said. “We don’t want negativity. We don’t need more hate. We don’t need more division. We are demanding something better than that. We want politics where we can lift each other up.”

Hours later, in Princeton, two basketball players met canvassers in a backyard to launch the final stretch of another campaign.

Bill Bradley, an NBA Hall of Famer and former U.S. senator, stood alongside Sue Altman, a former college and professional basketball player who is also seeking to represent the 12th district. Altman, a former director of the state Working Families Party, ran for Congress in the neighboring 7th district two years ago, but faced attacks over her activist roots and lost to Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) in the competitive race.

Bradley campaigned on Altman’s behalf two years ago, and he isn’t the only prominent ex-official to get involved with her campaign this year. She’s also hit the trail with former Senator Robert Torricelli and former Gov. Jon Corzine. She said events with these former officials — none of whom have been in office for more than a decade — weren’t part of a conscious strategy.

“It’s less about a campaign strategy and more just our relationships over the many years,” Altman told the New Jersey Globe. “But if it also happens to remind voters that we are a New Jersey-based organization and we are a New Jersey-based campaign, then all the better.”

The Princeton event of about 20 people consisted of local student canvassers and older residents. In her short remarks, she mentioned her time as Senator Andy Kim’s state director, saying she saw firsthand how the Trump administration enacted many of the goals of the controversial Project 2025 blueprint.

“We have a reform movement underway in New Jersey,” Altman told her supporters. “We have an incredible outpouring of people participating in politics right now, with extraordinarily high turnout in other races, and protests happening at Delaney Hall and elsewhere. We have some of the solidest civic institutions in the entire country. So, we, as New Jersey, can show the way.”

She said it’s up to Congress to resume subsidies for the Affordable Care Act to help working-class Americans retain their health insurance, as well as to protect young people, public education, and the environment.

Still, she expressed her own misgivings about the state of the Democratic Party. Democrats in decades past, Altman said, pushed the Civil Rights Movement forward, embraced protections for LGBTQ rights, bolstered environmental regulations, and backed unions.

“Democrats, we used to be the party of change,” she said.

Altman has challenged New Jersey’s political machine for years and entered the race hoping to capitalize on the progressive, anti-establishment sentiment that has burgeoned in New Jersey of late. But Hamawy captured much of that energy, particularly from those especially concerned about Gaza.

That energy helped Hamawy earn the backing of major progressives like Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, endorsements that weighed on the minds of Altman canvassers. One asked how they should respond to a voter who mentions those endorsements.

Altman pointed to the support she’s received from local progressive groups, including the New Jersey Working Families Party, New Jersey Citizen Action, and New Jersey Now. Those endorsements, she said, are a testament to her years pushing worthy causes.

“My entire career, the last 15 years, has been about improving the quality of life of working people here in New Jersey, improving our conditions and our democracy here in New Jersey, and I’ve taken risks to do that,” Altman told the canvasser. “We’ve built an organization, and we’ve built coalitions to do just that.”

“I think the people in Princeton and the people in this district want somebody who’s accountable to them, not somebody who’s accountable to people outside of the state.”