Rutgers Alumnus Herb Conaway Brings Degrees in Law and Medicine to Congress
Herb Conaway was elected to the South Jersey seat vacated by U.S. Senator Andy Kim
When U.S. Rep. Herb Conaway (D-Moorestown) was sworn in for his first term on Jan. 3 to fill the seat previously held by Sen. Andy Kim, he not only became the first Black physician with voting privileges in Congress, but he also became the first Black congressman to serve New Jersey’s 3rd District.
Shortly after taking his oath in Washington D.C., Conaway, a Rutgers Law School alumnus, was welcomed to the House chamber by Minority Leader Hakim Jefferies. During their chat, Jefferies pointed out to Conaway that of the more than 12,000 congresspeople to serve throughout our country’s history, only around 200 have been of African American descent.
“I have run as a minority in a majority-white district for my entire career. Identity politics have not been a hallmark or pillar of my service,” said Conaway, a Democrat who previously served the state’s 7th district from 1998 to 2024 in the New Jersey General Assembly. “But I can’t help to reflect that it took so long for someone of African American descent to be a physician with voting rights in Congress. When you put those numbers in juxtaposition, it’s something that caused me to be sober about this first.”
Prior to Conaway, there were two Black physicians elected to serve in Congress. However, they were not eligible to vote because they represented the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Exactly 20 years before his latest run for Congress, in 2004, Conaway was defeated in his first House run by Rep. Jim Saxton (R-Mount Holly). On his second attempt this November, he bested Republican Rajesh Mohan to win the seat Kim vacated for his U.S. Senate run to serve a district that spans parts of Burlington, Mercer and Monmouth counties.
As a kindergartener, I said when I grew up, I wanted to be either a doctor or a lawyer or a pilot. I’ve been all three.
Herb Conaway
One of four children raised in Bordentown by a father who taught history and mother who worked as a nurse, Conaway said his parents’ top priorities were ensuring their children took advantage of every learning opportunity they were afforded to better their community.
“My dad was a renaissance man. He learned how to lay bricks, how to frame a house, how to do plumbing,” said Conaway. “He instilled in the four of us to get as much education and training and skills as possible – and use it for good.”
Conaway took that advice to heart, earning his undergraduate degree in politics from Princeton University, his medical degree, specializing in internal medicine, from Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and, while serving in the Air Force Medical Corps, studying at Rutgers Law School in Camden.
“As a kindergartener I said when I grew up, I wanted to be either a doctor or a lawyer or a pilot. I’ve been all three,” said Conaway who also earned his aviation license while serving on McGuire Air Force Base.
Being based in South Jersey had a lot to do with his decision to pursue a law degree at Rutgers in Camden – instead of a master’s in public health at Rutgers in New Brunswick.
“I thought I could use both degrees. One would help with hospital administration. But you see lawyers in every walk of life,” said Conaway, who notes he is one of many in his family to graduate from Rutgers, including two of his sisters and his father, all who earned their undergraduate degrees here. “I decided it was a shorter drive down Route 38 for a law degree that would prepare me for any number of different things.”
Just two years after graduating in 1996, Conaway won his first state Assembly race and became the only member of the legislature to hold both an M.D. and J.D.
“Mentally being able to put forth an argument on these larger constitutional questions – Miranda rights or health law, animal rights law and torts – these are things of value to me in considering various proposals that came through the state legislature,” he said.
Conaway has served South Jersey residents for more than two decades in Trenton – both at the Statehouse and St. Francis Medical Center, where he directs the Internal Medicine Clinic. Known for his level demeanor in Trenton where politics are notoriously feisty, Conaway said he is committed to bringing that same energy to D.C. to better advocate for the communities he serves in New Jersey.
“My personality is to try and turn down the temperature and understand who might be on the opposite side of an issue we can work build consensus with,” he said. “I look to be a voice of reason but will never give up the values of the people I represent.”
One of his goals is to remove the cap on state and local tax deduction – known as SALT – as federal taxable income. Other items on his agenda include actively combating attacks on voting rights, the free press and constitution and law. Conaway expressed concern for our country, but said he has hope that the promise of America will prevail.
“There those who are entrepreneurs of hate and division. These people will find their way into power. They will try to rewrite history to say things like slavery was good. Some tragedy will happen, and they will say a woman was piloting a plane or someone of color was building a bridge that fell,” he said. “It’s a simple fallacy and it’s lamentable, but I am confident that the American people know better than that.”
