CD-12 contender East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen blew away the field tonight in his home county for the backing of the Middlesex County Democratic Committee.

Cohen received 67% of the vote in his bid for the congressional seat occupied by retiring U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12).

Sue Altman came in second with 11%.

Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson came in third.

Reynolds-Jackson of Trenton has the backing in her home county of the Mercer County Democratic Committee.

Three hundred and eighty people participated in the convention, run by Committee Chairman Kevin McCabe of Middlesex, which claims the most towns in the 12th District.

The backing of the East Brunswick mayor's candidacy by state Senator Linda Greenstein (D-14) showed strength heading into tonight's event.

A gynecologist at St. Peter's Hospital, Cohen first ran for mayor back in 2016.

He came into office determined to revamp the Route 18 corridor, organizing a bipartisan redevelopment agency so the community - and not just the executive - could assume ownership of East Brunswick's development direction and be part of the town's success story. The result, Cohen told InsiderNJ earlier this year, is a balance of development, including several largescale projects, including retail, restaurants and business and necessary affordable housing, that takes into account the distinct character of four different neighborhoods within the 24-square-mile municipality. Critically, the mayor adds, "In elected office, I have never raised municipal taxes more than one percent a year."

As a congressional candidate, Cohen wants voters to examine not only his elected office record, but to remember his core competency as a physician, at an especially critical time. "We have a health access and health insurance problem in this country right now," says Cohen. The grind-down of Obamacare - which Trump ran on, and which many members of his own party continue to champion - will simply exacerbate the crisis, and they will be begging for universal healthcare in a couple of years.

"This is not who we are," said the mayor. "It is grossly unfair in a country like ours that there are people falling behind" because of lack of access to healthcare.

In addition to supplying his expertise on that front, Cohen makes the case that as a mayor he possesses a unique understanding of the core of the 12th District and its needs - particularly in several critical areas. "We have a corridor, from Princeton and Trenton up 287 into parts of Hillsborough and Bridgewater, which is the Silicon Valley of the life sciences, or Einstein Alley, which supplies businesses and research that feed the economy.

"The President [through the priorities in his so-called 'big, beautiful bill'] is attacking healthcare, attacking science and research and education," said Cohen. "This is our meat and potatoes. We are a brain center. Companies like to come here because there is a workforce here. ...When those companies come here, they bring in jobs and feed businesses, schools and support the economy."