Democrats in Crowded NJ-12 Primary Debate Trump, Israel

Nine candidates showed up Sunday night at Rider University in Lawrence to make their case for the Democratic nomination in New Jersey’s 12th congressional district, and the debate made one thing clear: this field doesn’t have much patience for the current state of their own party.

The candidates are competing to succeed Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, the 81-year-old congresswoman from Ewing who has held the seat for 12 years and is not seeking re-election. The district, which covers parts of Mercer and Middlesex counties, is safely Democratic, so the primary is effectively the race. To earn a spot on the stage, candidates had to clear a fundraising or endorsement threshold. All nine did.

Frustration with national Democratic leadership ran through most of the evening. Sue Altman, a former state director of the Working Families Party and former state director for Sen. Andy Kim, said the party has no coherent response to the political playbook that Republicans have run since January 2025. “One of the most jarring aspects of the past 18 months has been watching the fact that Democrats do not have an answer for Project 2025,” Altman told the debate audience. “They came in, and they ran their play, and we seem to have no comparable vision.”

Hakeem Jeffries got a rough night. Princeton professor Sam Wang said he would not be “favorable” toward Jeffries’ leadership and named Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland as a potential replacement. Somerset County Commissioner Shanel Robinson promised outright not to support Jeffries as Democratic leader. Adam Hamawy, a former Army combat surgeon who has collected endorsements from national progressives, put it more broadly. “We need people who are actually going to stand up and speak against the transgressions that are happening,” Hamawy said. “We don’t need more backroom deals and the same business as usual that we see in Washington that has gotten us to where we are today.”

Impeachment came up too. Most of the field said they’d vote to impeach President Donald Trump even without the Senate votes to convict. Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp was the most direct. “He has done too much harm to the American people, and he has not demonstrated that he is capable of leading this nation,” Mapp said. “And Democrats have got to have the balls to make sure that they impeach President Trump, and I will vote when I get to Washington to impeach President Trump, regardless of whether or not we have the votes in the Senate.”

Military aid to Israel produced the sharpest disagreement of the night. Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson of Trenton said she supports Israel and directed her criticism at Trump and the ongoing war in Iran. Hamawy, who has been openly skeptical of Israeli military policy, said the U.S. should stop supplying weapons to Israel. The two candidates are coming from genuinely different positions on the question, and neither appeared ready to move.

The NJ-12 race is already drawing attention from national progressive groups, and the debate illustrated why it’s competitive. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has an interest in holding a seat that’s been in Democratic hands for decades, and the Cook Political Report rates the district as safely blue. Voters in Mercer and surrounding counties can find candidate filing and district information through the New Jersey Division of Elections. The primary is scheduled for June.