Millennial Policy Expert & Organizer Iziah Thompson Launches Primary Campaign in NJ-12: “It's Time for a New Generation of Leadership in New Jersey”

PLAINFIELD, NJ — Iziah Thompson, a policy researcher and housing organizer, today announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District. The 32-year-old Democratic Socialist is running to replace Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, who has a history as one of the most progressive members of Congress. Thompson is launching a campaign focused on lowering prices of housing and utilities, ending medical debt, and reigning in the power of big tech by pushing protections for children and teens and halting all data center construction.

Thompson, a Plainfield native who has spent years lobbying on behalf of tenants in city governments, statehouses, and on Capitol Hill, cited a specific moment of disillusionment with Washington's inaction as one of his main motivations for running.

“I spent years in D.C. sharing policy memos, data, and legislative text that would make huge differences for the American people. Over and over again, the word “seniority” was used to stifle good ideas and bold action. I witnessed representatives falling asleep in meetings and saw corporate lobbyists with unfettered access to the levers of power,” said Thompson. “After Donald Trump’s win, I met with House members asking what their plans were to fight against the Administration’s worst policies. One told me that they could “write a letter”. New Jersey cannot replace Bonnie Watson Colmenan, a progressive leader, with someone who will disappear into this broken system. The political machine in New Jersey is known for corruption. If we want representation in D.C. that won’t fall in line at this crucial time for our nation, we need new leadership untethered from corporate donors and corrupt politics in our state.

A Platform for the Future

Thompson’s platform is built on specific, structural interventions to lower costs for working families and break the power of corporate monopolies. Iziah supports the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and bold action on Climate Change. Years of policy work have also helped him form a host of legislative and budgetary changes that will improve the lives of New Jersey residents:

• Housing is a Human Right: His housing platform is fronted by a Public Option for Housing via a Federal Housing Production Fund and Social Housing Developer that will build and rehab permanently affordable, green housing controlled by the community, and includes other important initiatives:

○      Ban Algorithmic Price-Fixing

○      National Beneficial Ownership Registry

○      Tax Penalties for Institutional Speculators

○      National Right to Council

○      Legally Recognize Tenant Unions in Federally Assisted Housing

○      Deed Theft “No Call List”

○      A Pro ADU Federal Budget

○      RAD and HCV reforms

• Power to the People: A plan to stand up Community Energy Cooperatives, allowing neighborhoods to own their own solar arrays, batteries, and micro-nuclear plants to lower costs and control load shifts at the grid’s edge.
• Protect Our Children: Establishing a Federal AI Agency to regulate algorithms before they harm minors and banning predatory gambling mechanics (loot boxes) in video games.
• Halt New Data Centers: No new data centers until the Federal AI Agency reviews the existing environment, weighs harms, and makes a plan to allow AI to make major advances in medicine and science while protecting us against its negative externalities.
• Ban Congressional Stock Trading
• Abolish ICE
• Create a Pathway to Citizenship
• Human Needs Over the War Machine: As an unaffiliated Quaker, Iziah is tied to a history of anti-war activism. Beyond a strong devotion to peace, he believes in solidarity as a basis for international policy, including:

○      Uncompromising stance on Gaza and the West Bank:

■      Immediate & Permanent Ceasefire: Not a "pause," but a complete cessation of hostilities enforced by diplomatic pressure.

■      Full Arms Embargo

■      Restore & Expand Humanitarian Funding: Demand immediate, massive refunding of UNRWA to prevent mass starvation and disease.

■      End the Occupation

○      Real Support for Sudan

■      Surge Humanitarian Aid: The U.S. must lead a massive humanitarian airlift and funding package comparable to what has been provided to Ukraine/Israel.

■      Diplomatic Overdrive: End U.S. "diplomatic drift." and appoint a high-level Special Envoy with the sole mandate of negotiating a civilian-led transition, rather than backing one general over another.

■      Refugee Acceptance: A Temporary Protected Status (TPS) expansion and increased refugee caps for Sudanese families fleeing the genocide in Darfur.

■      Cancel Sovereign Debt: Cancellation of Sudan’s international debt to allow a future civilian government to rebuild rather than pay interest to Western banks.

• Healthcare for the Future: In addition to Medicare for All, Iziah supports:

○      Pass the “MOMBIUS” legislation, drastically improving Black maternal health outcomes

○      Codify Roe V Wade

○      A Public Option: A Medicare Buy-In for All, giving every American the choice to enroll in the federal Medicare program rather than private insurance, creating genuine competition that drives down costs.

○      Drug Price Negotiation:  Allow Medicare and Medicaid to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies, a low-hanging fruit reform projected to save taxpayers approximately $230 billion over 10 years.

○      Modernizing Care Delivery: Fix the fragmented nature of our infrastructure, with a federal board to oversee a "Shared Savings Program" out of HHS that funds states and counties to implement comprehensive, interoperable data systems.

○      Ban Direct-to-Consumer Pharma ads

○      Cut financial conflicts between providers and companies: Tighten the Sunshine Act and pass anti-kickback statutes to strictly regulate the "education" gifts and speaking fees that pharmaceutical reps offer physicians.

○      Dramatically expand federal funding for medical residencies and offer full loan forgiveness for providers who commit to working in primary care and underserved areas for ten years.

○      Codify the right to gender-affirming care

○      End Medical Debt

• Eliminate "pay-to-play" politics and Corruption:

○      Contractor Contribution Ban: Barr companies and their executives who want to bid on a federal, state, or local project funded by federal dollars, from donating to any candidate in that jurisdiction while a contract is ongoing and during a "cooling off" period afterward.

○      Stock Trading Ban for Federal Elected Officials

○      End the Revolving Door: A lifetime ban on federal officials lobbying for foreign governments and a 10-year ban on domestic corporate lobbying for Congress and the President. Furthermore, employees would be barred from joining companies they directly regulated for a period of five years.

• And more.

Thompson is taking a No Corporate PAC pledge, rejecting contributions from the real estate, fossil fuel, and pharmaceutical lobbies that dominate New Jersey politics.

“We watched the cost of living skyrocket while Congress members traded stocks and dined with lobbyists,” Thompson continued. “You cannot fight inflation or climate change while taking checks from the corporations causing them. My campaign is 100% people-funded because I will be 100% people-accountable.”

About Iziah Thompson

Iziah Thompson is a dedicated public servant and policy analyst, born to educators in Newark, NJ, in 1993. Iziah grew up in Plainfield, NJ, where he co-founded Plainfield Y.O.U. as a high school student to address youth violence. He is an alumnus of Monmouth University and New York University. Thompson served with distinction in AmeriCorps NCCC, leading disaster response teams during historic flooding in Baton Rouge, LA, and wildfires in Tennessee.

Professionally, Thompson has been a leading voice in housing policy, with his work cited in The New York Times and USA Today. Iziah has spent years arming social movements with serious research and on-the-ground organizing tenants; he led a campaign to secure Emergency Rental Assistance for public housing residents during the pandemic, organizing thousands of residents and creating a coalition of grassroots organizations. Iziah is a long-standing member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), and contributed to a digital initiative called Imagine Bernie, which helped popularize Bernie Sanders’ Candidacy on social media. Most recently, he served on the transition team for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He returned to Plainfield in the Fall of 2025 to bring his experience home.