N.J. Democratic Nominee Rebecca Bennett Will Not Endorse Or Campaign With Antisemite Adam Hamawy

Rebecca Bennett, the Democratic nominee in New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, will not endorse or campaign with Adam Hamawy, the Democratic nominee in the neighboring 12th District, her campaign announced Tuesday.

A Bennett campaign spokesperson said she "is not going to campaign with or endorse Adam Hamawy this fall, as she is laser focused on flipping New Jersey's seventh district, lowering costs, and getting corruption out of Washington."

Bennett, a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot and Air National Guard officer who won her primary over the summer, is running as a moderate with a pro-Israel platform against Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. In a competitive swing district.

Hamawy, a plastic surgeon and Army combat veteran, won the Democratic primary in the 12th District. He has faced scrutiny over past associations, including serving as a defense witness in the 1995 terrorism trial of Omar Abdel-Rahman, the Blind Sheikh, and volunteering in the mid-1990s with Benevolence International Foundation, a charity later designated by the U.S. Government as an al-Qaida front group.

Republicans have attempted to link the two Democratic nominees because of their shared military backgrounds. Hamawy's campaign has defended his record, stating that his "entire career and life have been defined by his patriotism and deep love of this country." The campaign characterized his testimony in the Blind Sheikh case as a "civic and legal duty" Performed while he was in the Army and dismissed criticism of his charity work as "desperate," "absurd" And "gross and bigoted."

The general election is scheduled for November.