A progressive Democrat backed by Bernie Sanders and the Squad has won a crowded New Jersey congressional primary.
But his victory is drawing renewed scrutiny over past ties to a convicted Islamist terrorist, a Gaza hospital later linked to Hamas and work with a nonprofit whose offices were eventually raided over alleged al-Qaeda connections.
Adam Hamawy, a former Army combat surgeon and 9/11 first responder, emerged victorious Tuesday night in the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District.
The 56-year-old defeated 12 other Democrats in the race to replace retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman.
🚨Race Call: Adam Hamawy wins the Democrat primary for the 12th Congressional District
Hamaway was backed by Bernie Sanders, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Hasan Piker
He was perviously linked to Al-Qaeda groups
This is my friend @6Transitz district pic.twitter.com/3TByHDsNiX
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) June 3, 2026
Hamawy entered the contest with the backing of major figures on the left, including Sanders, Ro Khanna, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib.
But Hamawy’s win has brought fresh scrutiny to parts of his past that critics are now using against him.
One of the most explosive controversies centers on his connection to Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the convicted terrorist known as the “Blind Sheikh.”
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Abdel-Rahman was later sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of seditious conspiracy, solicitation to murder Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, conspiracy to murder Mubarak, solicitation to attack a U.S. military installation and conspiracy to conduct bombings.
Evidence presented at trial showed planned bombing targets included the U.N. General Assembly building, the New York FBI building, the Lincoln Tunnel, the Holland Tunnel and the George Washington Bridge.
At the time, Abdel-Rahman also preached at the Al-Salam Mosque in Jersey City, where conspirators in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing met.
Hamawy was 26 and attending medical school when Abdel-Rahman’s lawyers called him to testify during the 1995 trial.
The defense used Hamawy to dispute allegations that the Blind Sheikh had solicited people to kill Mubarak.
Records from the case recount a lengthy 1991 drive from New Jersey to Detroit during which prosecutors alleged Abdel-Rahman urged FBI informant Emad Salem to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, telling him to point his “rifle’s barrel to President Mubarak’s chest, and kill him.”
Hamawy told jurors that he was seated in the back of the vehicle during the trip and did not recall hearing Abdel-Rahman urge anyone to assassinate Mubarak.
He further testified that he never heard the Egyptian president mentioned during the conversation.
Under questioning from prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, Hamawy acknowledged hearing the word “jihad” more than once that weekend during the “Towards a Global Islamic Economy” conference.
The event featured other Islamist speakers, including Hassan al-Turabi, an associate of Osama bin Laden.
During cross-examination, Fitzgerald questioned Hamawy about whether conference discussions included calls for Muslims to wage jihad against those viewed as adversaries of Islam. Hamawy responded that jihad was a frequent topic in Abdel-Rahman’s speeches and teachings.
Hamawy further testified that Abdel-Rahman regarded both the United States and Israel as opponents of Islam.
The Blind Sheikh controversy is not the only issue now trailing the Democratic nominee.
Hamawy has also faced criticism over his work at Gaza’s European Hospital.
In May 2024, he spent three weeks working at the hospital. After returning, Hamawy told Rowan University’s student newspaper, the Whit, that he did not see evidence the facility was being used by terrorists.
“I didn’t see any guns in the hospital. There was no one that I could identify as a combatant. There were definitely no tunnels underground and no command base there,” he said that October.
A year later, Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar was killed by the Israel Defense Forces in a tunnel directly beneath the emergency department of the hospital.
Mohammed Sinwar, widely identified as a key planner behind the Oct. 7 assault on Israel, was reportedly meeting with several high-ranking Hamas operatives at the time of the strike, and multiple attendees were also reported killed.
Jewish Insider also recently detailed Hamawy’s volunteer efforts in war-torn Bosnia in 1994 through the Benevolence International Foundation, a charitable organization that provided assistance to Muslim communities affected by the conflict.
During that period, Hamawy volunteered in Sarajevo and Zenica, two Bosnian cities where the Benevolence International Foundation operated aid centers.
Years later, in 2002, law enforcement officials in Bosnia and the United States searched the organization’s facilities, reporting the discovery of records and other materials that investigators said suggested ties to al-Qaeda networks and fundraising efforts.
Despite the attention surrounding the charity, Hamawy has never been accused of involvement in terrorism, nor has he faced any related criminal charges.
He is set to advance to the general election this November, where he will take on Republican nominee Gregg Mele in a congressional district that has long favored Democrats.
Elsewhere, another Democratic congressional nominee is drawing attention again over past statements from an archived campaign website.
Lindsay James, who won her primary in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, once posted a “confession” apologizing for her privilege as a white woman.
“I am a white, cis-gender, able bodied, middle class, college educated woman,” James wrote on her 2020 campaign website for the Iowa state Legislature.
“There is no doubt that I have worked hard to get where I am in my life, but I have also benefited greatly from privilege,” she lamented.
“My personal journey of self-examination as it relates to my own privilege has not been perfect, but I am committed to doing the hard work of honest self-reflection, considering critical feedback when given, and working every day to better myself and use my privilege to advocate for others.”
The archived site also claimed that black and brown Iowans faced “structural barriers to flourishing that are the legacy of centuries of racism, discrimination and white supremacy.”
James is now trying to flip the seat held by Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is running for U.S. Senate. She will face former state Rep. Joe Mitchell in the general election.
In New Jersey, Rep. LaMonica McIver also sparked controversy Wednesday during a hearing with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
McIver accused DHS of racism over the racial makeup of detainees at Delaney Hall, an immigration detention center in Newark.
“Secretary Mullin, you talk about racism a lot in today’s hearing. You know what’s racist? The fact that every detainee in Delaney Hall is a person of color,” McIver stated.
“The cruelty runs to the top of DHS, weaponizing the immigration system for your president and this administration’s racist grievances.”
Rep. LaMonica McIver’s legal troubles have also remained in the spotlight. In June 2025, a federal grand jury returned an indictment alleging that she assaulted and obstructed federal officers during a May 9 demonstration outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark.
My statement on the charges filed against me: pic.twitter.com/urxCAt1ZEc
— Rep. LaMonica McIver (@RepLaMonica) May 20, 2025
She pleaded not guilty and accused prosecutors of pursuing the case for political reasons. Federal courts have so far rejected multiple efforts to throw out the case.
The Justice Department has said McIver faces a maximum possible sentence of 17 years if found guilty, with the most serious counts carrying penalties of up to eight years each and an additional count carrying up to one year.
