Voters elect plastic surgeon Adam Hamawy to Congress

New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District will elect plastic surgeon Adam Hamawy to Congress, the Associated Press projects.

Hamawy’s win was broadly expected after he secured his party’s nomination to succeed a retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D). He defeated GOP attorney Gregg Mele in this heavily Democratic district.

Hamawy was formerly a combat surgeon for the U.S. Army during the Iraq War and is credited with saving the life of now-Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) after her medium-lift helicopter was shot down in 2004.