Hometown: South Brunswick

Occupation: Doctor

Age: 56

Personal and/or professional background: I am a doctor, veteran, and proud father from Jersey. On 9/11, I treated victims in a field hospital at Ground Zero. I served as a combat trauma surgeon in Iraq at the height of the war. One of my patients later became a US Senator – Tammy Duckworth. Since completing my service, I have worked in New Jersey emergency rooms and built my own practice in Princeton. Over the last 30 years, I have volunteered to treat patients in war and disaster zones across the world. In 2024, I went on a medical mission to Gaza, where I was trapped with my colleagues when Israel seized the Rafah Crossing. I refused to leave until all my colleagues were guaranteed safe evacuation. I was honored to be Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman’s 2025 State of the Union guest.

What is your top issue? Healthcare, not bombs. Every day, I see working families getting crushed by the health insurance industry. Premiums feel like a second mortgage. Treatments are denied while patients are getting sicker. In the richest country the world has ever known, no one should be choosing between rent and medical bills. That’s not a healthcare system – it’s a scam to enrich CEOs. At the same time, I have seen what we actually spend our money on. Over 2 trillion dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A bloated Pentagon budget that goes up every year at the same time we are cutting Medicaid. We have our priorities wrong as a country. It is time we invest in our communities instead of giving blank checks to defense contractors and war profiteers.

How would you improve the economy and make the cost of living (groceries, housing, energy, etc.) more affordable? The United States is the wealthiest country in the history of the world, but tens of millions of Americans are struggling to afford rent, childcare, healthcare, and groceries. That is not bad luck. It is the result of deliberate policy choices made by politicians who answer to billionaires and corporations instead of working families. I support large federal investments in clean energy and housing to address rising prices and stimulate our economy. We need to end wars like the one we started in Iran that are driving up gas prices. We need to break up monopolies that are abusing their market power to price gouge consumers. We also need to take care of expensive basic needs like healthcare and childcare.

What is your plan to make healthcare more affordable and accessible? I believe healthcare is a basic human right, not a privilege. As a physician who sees firsthand how insurance companies and the rest of our absurd system fail patients and providers alike, the fight for Medicare for All is personal for me.The root cause of our failing healthcare system is a choice to protect a greedy industry that prioritizes profit over health and well-being. We need universal, single-payer healthcare with no out-of-pocket costs. Crucially, Medicare for All would also expand coverage to include hearing, dental, and vision insurance. I also support empowering Medicare to negotiate prescription drug pricing, breaking up PBMs, fighting hospital consolidation, and cancelling medical debt.

Do you support the war in Iran and federal defense spending? If not, what would you change? I strongly oppose the war in Iran and believe we need to meaningfully reduce the wasteful Pentagon budget. Most Members of Congress never have to face the consequences of the votes they take on foreign policy. As a former U.S. Army combat surgeon who served in Iraq and as a physician who has volunteered on medical missions to warzones all over the world, I have confronted the human cost of decisions made by those in power. For me, foreign policy is not some far off thing – it’s personal. We need to end endless wars and invest in healthcare, not bombs.

What are your thoughts about current immigration enforcement policies and what, if anything, would you do differently? As an immigrant, I take this fight personally. Funded by tens of billions of taxpayer dollars, masked federal agents with military equipment racially profile our neighbors, kidnap them off the street, and shoot and kill them with impunity. Ripping children and grandparents away from their families, subjecting them to inhumane conditions in detention, and sending them to torture prisons in El Salvador is not brave or courageous — it’s cruel and cowardly. I support abolishing and prosecuting ICE. I support building an immigration system that protects civil rights and civil liberties and allows for a fair and orderly process for people to move here.

What changes, if any, should Congress or the president make in elections (requiring voter ID, regulating mail-in voting, etc.)? Money from billionaires and corporations floods our elections and influences our elected officials who should be representing our interests. Our political system is designed for this kind of corruption, not for democracy. The Citizens United decision opened the floodgates to unlimited, anonymous money in our elections. I will fight to establish public financing of elections, mandate full disclosure of dark money donors, and push for a constitutional amendment to make clear that corporations are not people and money is not speech. I will fight to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act, pass automatic voter registration, expand early voting and vote by mail, end partisan gerrymandering, and make Election Day a federal holiday.

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Mele did not answer the questionnaire. Instead, the information below was compiled from multiple sources.

Hometown: Plainfield

Personal and/or professional background: A Mele campaign website states: Congressional candidate Gregg Mele is a life-long resident of New Jersey who is passionate about restoring liberty and freedom to the state. He comes from humble beginnings – the child of blue-collar parents whose father worked long hours in a bookbinding factory so his family might have a better life. A Montclair State cum laude graduate, Gregg continued his education and eventually graduated cum laude from New York University Law School with his LLM. In between he earned his MS from Stevens Institute of Technology, his MBA from Baruch College of the City University of New York and his JD from New York Law School. He is a prior candidate with statewide name recognition. Gregg has also spent more than a decade teaching graduate-level courses in law, finance, economics and technology at Stevens Institute of Technology and Fairleigh Dickinson University, contributing to a nationally used course textbook.

On the economy and making the cost of living more affordable: Mele’s campaign website states he supports reliable, dispatchable energy generation; nuclear power and natural gas alongside competitive emerging technologies; faster permitting for responsible domestic energy and grid infrastructure and clear disclosure of subsidies, transmission expenses, and other policy-driven costs borne by taxpayers or ratepayers.

On health care affordability and accessibility: Mele’s website states that he supports greater price transparency, more competition, portability, and targeted reforms intended to give patients more information and more choice rather than replacing the current system with a single federal payer.

On the war with Iran and federal defense policy: Mele’s campaign website states that he supports Israel’s right to defend itself and the  preservation of a strong U.S.–Israel alliance. Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran-backed terrorism are threats that U.S. policy must address directly.

On immigration enforcement: Mele’s website states that he supports stronger screening at ports of entry, enforcement of immigration law and improvements to legal immigration so applicants who follow the rules are treated fairly and efficiently. He would prioritize dangerous criminals, traffickers, and national-security threats, while respecting human dignity and constitutional protections. He supports law enforcement but believes that those who violate the law should be held accountable.

On elections and voting: Mele’s website is silent on this issue.

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Hometown: Bound Brook, NJ

Occupation: Tenant Union Organizer

Age: 29

Personal and/or professional background: I am a 29 year-old tenant organizer from Bound Brook, New Jersey. I am also a management student at Kean University and an aspiring children’s librarian. For the past 10 years, I have worked at several different libraries across the district setting up programming for seniors and families. I led a union drive in one of the largest apartment complexes in Highland Park, demanding transparency for arbitrary up-charges in services and a stop to outrageous rent increases. When unaccountable and reckless ICE agents came into our communities, I also helped build a Rapid Response network across the state to address community needs.

What is your top issue? As a tenant organizer, I think the most urgent issue to address is the unaffordable cost of housing. I would propose a “Renter’s Bill of Rights” modeled on the work of former Seattle councilwoman Kshama Sawant and Workers Strike Back. In addition, advocating for a housing model that mirrors the one in Vienna, Austria in which the majority of units in the market are owned either directly by the government or non-profit Community Land Trusts, would keep housing affordable long-term. I would also promote a Housing First approach that seeks to rapidly house homeless families and individuals without prerequisites, in order to provide shelter and stability as quick as possible. Housing is a human right and we should treat it as such.

How would you improve the economy and make the cost of living (groceries, housing, energy, etc.) more affordable? We live in a financialized casino economy where the needs of everyday Americans are not even a consideration to those at the very top. As household debt soars, families are displaced due to increasing rents, and folks struggle to afford healthcare, the profits for billionaires, and basic necessities like groceries and electricity. We need bold economic programs that create social housing, stabilize rent, provide free healthcare and education and generate the green jobs of the future. If we tax the top 1% of income earners, cut our inflated military budget and enact monetary reform by issuing debt-free money, I believe that would go a long way to improving the economy and making everyday essentials more affordable.

What is your plan to make healthcare more affordable and accessible? We need to force a vote on Medicare for All. We have existing healthcare infrastructure that could be expanded and restructured for the need of all Americans. Medicare has to become a universal single payer system and we need to cut out the middlemen, a.k.a. the insurance companies, that continue to profit off the backs of working people. Paying healthcare providers directly would be cheaper and more ethical.

Do you support the war in Iran and federal defense spending? If not, what would you change? I do not support the pointless and costly war in Iran. In the Persian Gulf, we have seen the U.S. set up military bases in almost all of Iran’s neighboring countries. In the current, unprovoked, US-Israeli aggression against Iran, the bases were used to carry out strikes on schools, hospitals, universities and many other civilian targets; these acts constitute crimes against humanity. We need to stop the expansion of the military-industrial complex that profits from these constant wars and pointless deaths. We have no business having more than 700 military bases around the world, while at home we can’t provide 700 clinics in medical deserts or 700 free universities.

What are your thoughts about current immigration enforcement policies and what, if anything, would you do differently? I believe the current immigration enforcement policies have been a train wreck. We are are seeing rogue ICE agents threaten the civil liberties of immigrants and U.S. citizens. The detention centers lack clean water, provide maggot-infested or expired food, all while cramming in as many people as they can. They pay no mind to women who are pregnant, working people, the elderly or minors who they separate from their parents. We need to demilitarize the immigration system and provide common sense paths to legalization while ensuring due process.

What changes, if any, should Congress or the president make in elections (requiring voter ID, regulating mail-in voting, etc.)? We need to make it easier for people to vote, offering to register them at every possible opportunity when they interact with the government in their daily life, while ensuring that our immigrant neighbors are not automatically registered. In addition, we need to have dedicated divisions within agencies that oversee elections to ensure homeless individuals are registered.

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Hometown: Hopewell

Occupation: Communications

Age: 39

Personal and/or professional background: I am a U.S. Army veteran running a first-of-its-kind zero-donor campaign. I will govern through a zero-donor incumbency, accepting no money from corporations, PACs, wealthy interests, or individual donors. I will support future Stop Act legislation modeled on H.R. 415 to end forced call-time fundraising that pressures legislators to spend hours calling wealthy donors for campaign money in DCCC call centers instead of serving constituents. In keeping with the Framers’ vision of a U.S. representative, I will serve NJ 12 full time through direct constituent participation, directing federal resources to measurable programs that eliminate poverty in NJ 12, expand healthcare access, and deliver economic security and liberty.

What is your top issue? Eliminate the 10% chronic poverty rate in NJ 12. One in ten residents lives in chronic poverty while the tax code rewards wealth concentration. The framers designed the House to direct federal resources toward solving district problems and securing economic security and liberty for all. For decades, national pledges have functioned as a structural bait and switch, leaving problems unresolved while token earmarks fund ribbon-cutting events that serve re-election campaigns rather than constituents. I will launch at-scale District First pilots including a universal income pilot, healthcare access through VA+, and direct constituent participation in appropriations. These will produce measurable results within a two-year term.

How would you improve the economy and make the cost of living (groceries, housing, energy, etc.) more affordable? I will pursue an NJ 12 economic security pilot centered on a universal income for U.S. citizens. Stable income helps families pay for groceries, rent, utilities, and healthcare while supporting local businesses. I reject national solutions that serve as a bait and switch, leaving district problems unsolved while politicians use meager earmarks for ribbon-cutting photo ops and electoral patronage. I will seek federal funding for district-scale programs that reduce poverty and measure results openly. I also support ending the long tax code advantages that concentrated wealth, strengthening Social Security, and requiring large technology firms to contribute when AI, automation, and robotics displace workers.

What is your plan to make healthcare more affordable and accessible? I will introduce an NJ 12 VA+ and Community Care Network pilot for U.S. citizens that expands access through existing VA facilities, staff, telehealth, purchasing systems, and existing civilian care/billing capacity. Veterans retain priority access, earned benefits, and VA-funded care. Civilian care funded through a dedicated civilian health fund and automated chargebacks, protecting separate veterans’ appropriations. The pilot will measure access/wait times (20 day/30 miles), medical debt, outcomes, provider capacity, and cost. Successful results can support a national VA+ expansion, proving that District First at-scale pilots work better than empty national promises.

Do you support the war in Iran and federal defense spending? If not, what would you change? The conflict in Iran is not a war by Congressional Record, but an unauthorized introduction of forces. I do not support military action without clear Article I authorization, defined objectives, and a diplomatic path. Congress must exercise its war powers rather than allow open-ended executive action. I support a capable defense, auditing Pentagon spending, and reducing contractor waste. Freed funds must be invested in healthcare, infrastructure, housing, and economic security in NJ 12. We must end the Bush-era preemptive war doctrine and return to global leadership on peace and human rights. The US has no military peer, and we must not squander American lives and resources on wealth extraction via armed conflict against non-peer nations.

What are your thoughts about current immigration enforcement policies and what, if anything, would you do differently? Congress has abrogated its constitutional responsibility for immigration policy, allowing the system to become a permanent political weapon. Democratic and Republican Administrations engineered this multi-decade crisis by understaffing immigration courts. Article II judges now carry nearly 6,000 pending cases each. Congress must fund enough judges and support staff to reduce active dockets to a manageable level, while stopping new filings from exceeding completions. That is the remedy for multiyear backlogs that push people out of compliance. I support civil enforcement, due process, family unity, fair hearings, and workable congressional rules, not militarized national policing or unconstitutional criminalization that bypasses federalism.

What changes, if any, should Congress or the president make in elections (requiring voter ID, regulating mail-in voting, etc.)? Voting must remain secure, accessible, and protected from political interference. States administer elections (Time, Manner and Place), and New Jersey should preserve early voting, mail-in voting (automatic/default), ballot tracking, secure ballot handling, secure drop boxes, and clear public communication about deadlines. Congress must protect voting rights, prevent partisan gerrymandering, strengthen election security, and ensure that every eligible voter can cast a ballot that is counted. Strengthen State rights and protections from federal interference.

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