running for office

Knocking on strangers’ doors on a warm May afternoon in Trenton, New Jersey, Adam Hamawy did not seem fazed when more than a few went unanswered.

It’s his first time running for office, but this is an area where he has experience. After returning from a medical mission in Gaza in 2024, Hamawy went to Washington to describe the crisis – which he viewed as a US-funded genocide – to lawmakers, only to encounter “too many doors that were closed, that didn’t even want to listen”.

One of the few representatives on Capitol Hill who met with him was his own: Bonnie Watson Coleman, who has served New Jersey’s 12th congressional district for more than a decade.

When she announced her retirement in November 2025, after six terms, Hamawy decided it was no longer enough to seek the attention of those elected to serve in Washington – and launched his campaign to join them.

In six months, Hamawy has gone from a political nobody to, deemed by most measures, the frontrunner in a crowded race, endorsed by prominent progressive and Democratic figures including Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Tammy Duckworth. His work history has driven him to call for Medicare for All, advocating for sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel, and the abolition of ICE – and to say openly he cannot support the Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer.

When Bentley Hudgins talks about democracy, they rarely begin with ideology.

They talk about brown water running from neighborhood taps. About losing housing after an apartment complex changed ownership. About sleeping in a 1997 Dodge Dakota pickup truck during a brutal Georgia summer. About being disbelieved by doctors for years before finally receiving treatment that restored their hearing.

Now, after winning a Democratic primary in one of Georgia’s safest blue legislative districts, Hudgins is positioned to become the first out transgender lawmaker elected in Georgia history and among the first openly trans and nonbinary state legislators in the Deep South.

“It sends a clear message when the strongest Democratic district in the Georgia General Assembly says, ‘We want this person who is a member of these different communities who is also qualified to represent us in the State House,’” Hudgins told The Advocate during an interview days after their primary victory.

The result was decisive.

Hudgins captured roughly 66 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary for Georgia House District 90, defeating Leisa Stafford by more than 32 percent in a district that stretches across heavily Democratic portions of DeKalb County, including neighborhoods east and southeast of Atlanta long associated with progressive activism and civic engagement.

A student at Central Falls High School was sworn in as the newest member of the school board Tuesday night. Crystal Marie De Jesus, 18, was sworn in at City Hall. City leaders said De Jesus is the first in the state to hold the role.

Mejia emerged from a crowded primary in February and cast the race as a test of Trump’s leadership. She criticized his pardons of people convicted of January 6-related crimes and faulted him for freezing funds authorized by Congress.