Herb Conaway Tries to Make History in Congressional Run

By Clyde Hughes | AC JosepH Media

DELRAN — While Andy Kim has made the most headlines running for U.S. Senate in New Jersey, the leading candidate to replace him in the House of Representatives, Dr. Herb Conaway, is on the verge of making history himself.

Conaway, a practicing physician who also holds a law degree, has been a member of the New Jersey Assembly since 1998 in District 7. He won a crowded Democratic field in June and is the favorite to win Kim’s Congressional seat in November. If elected, Conaway would become the first Black to represent South Jersey in Congress. It would be particularly notable because the seat had long been a safe haven for Republicans until recent elections.

Conaway won nearly 50% of the vote in a field that included his assembly running mate Carolyn Murphy. He will be running against Republican Rajesh Mohan, a cardiologist who edged out Shirley Maia-Cusick to win that party’s primary.

The district for years was one of the few Republican strongholds in New Jersey until Kim upset incumbent Tom MacArthur in 2018. The Democrats make the seat more secure through redistricting in 2020.

Conaway called on his medical experience in saying if elected, he would be a vote codify abortion protections similarly laid out in Roe v. Wade, which was struck down as federally protected by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The health are system should stand ready to assist her with whatever choice she makes,” Conaway told WHYY in a Oct. 20 story. “This idea that a politician in Washington who thinks they know better, and most of them are men, by the way, that should be a situation that’s abhorrent to every free-thinking American.”

Conaway, who lives in Delran, expressed support for the bipartisan border bill that was rejected by Republicans at the last moment, will back a two-state solution in the current Israel-Gaza standoff, and would vote for continued support for Ukraine pushing back against an invasion by Russia.

“I got into this race because, as a former captain in the Air Force, I took an oath to protect our Constitution and rule of law,” Conaway said in a statement after the June primary. “The same Constitution that MAGA extremists want to shred to pieces. In Congress, I will stand up to fight for democracy, the rule of law and our right to vote.

“Tonight, we stand united in our belief that we must defeat MAGA extremists who pose a serious threat to all the freedoms we love and cherish.”

While the district has been trending Democratic, thanks to Kim, it is far from being a slam dunk. The New Jersey Monitor pointed out that there are 223,113 unaffiliated independent voters in the district, outpacing the 219,977 Democrats and 163,515 Republicans.

The Monitor also noted that when MacArthur last won the seat in 2016, he did it on the strength of independent voters and not the GOP.

It is likely the reason Conaway has called in reinforcement, like a visit from Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy for a rally on Sunda (Oct. 27) to make sure he is leaving no stone unturned.

“Winning in November will not be easy, and MAGA Republicans are going to work to keep our movement out of Congress,” Conaway said in a pinned message on his X account. “But I know that with your help, we will keep this seat blue and take back the House in November.”

The son of a teacher and nurse, Conaway has lived in Burlington County his entire life. He said he has been indelibly shaped by the service of his parents and community during his formative years.

Conaway said in his campaign biography that he wanted to find a way to serve the community from a young age and pursued an education in medicine after graduating from high school. received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a medical degree from Jefferson Medical College and a law degree from Rutgers University Camden.  After graduating, Conaway joined the Air Force, becoming a captain in the Medical Corps at McGuire Air Force Base. While at the base over four years, he served as general medical officer and rose to assistant director of the primary care clinic.

Following his internal medicine residency, Dr. Conaway began practice in primary care settings before moving on to work as a clinical professor in an inner-city, community hospital teaching the next generation of physicians. In the New Jersey Assembly, Conaway is chairman of the Health Committee, a member of the Budget Committee, and a member of the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee.

In those roles, Conaway played a leading role in passing New Jersey’s most significant health laws, sponsored New Jersey’s school funding formula, increased fiscal accountability within school districts; added technology to core curriculum standards and modernized nutritional standards in public schools.

“This election is the most consequential of our lifetime because the fate of our democracy will be on the ballot this November,” Conaway said in a column posted on NJ Insider. “Women’s reproductive rights will be on the ballot. Protecting our environment and tackling climate change will be on the ballot. Creating jobs and building an economy that works for all of us will be on the ballot.”

Note: This article from Front Runner New Jersey is part of our participation of the New Jersey Black Publishers Collaborative Project that focuses on the 2024 major elections.

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