Gregg Mele
R · U.S. House, NJ-12 · Tier 1/2
Tier 1/2, between “Firmly pro-Israel” and “Mainstream pro-Israel”
Republican nominee in NJ-12, an attorney and perennial candidate facing Adam Hamawy. A campaign-site page since taken down said it “supports Israel’s right to defend itself and preservation of a strong U.S.–Israel alliance” and that “support for Israel’s security should be paired with lawful and reasonable measures to protect innocent civilians and deliver humanitarian relief without allowing terrorist organizations to seize or weaponize it”; at a September 2026 forum he said “I do support Israel as our ally in the Middle East,” and his site runs a series attacking Hamawy's positions on the genocide, apartheid and cutting military aid.
A 1/2, not a flat 2 — a close call. He is reliably pro-Israel (right to defend itself, a strong alliance, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran framed as the threats) with no leadership on the issue; the opposition research on Hamawy's Israel record is positioning against a critic, not leadership. His civilian language names Palestinians only alongside Israelis (his site: “Palestinian children matter. Israeli children matter.”) and is explicitly paired with Israel's security — a pairing that reads as boilerplate rather than concern — though his WHYY answer on the “legitimate humanitarian concerns of innocent civilians” and a since-removed site line that criticism of an Israeli government is protected speech are more than most candidates at this tier offer. Open to a flat 2 if he names Gaza's civilians on their own terms.
Open the full card, with votes, money and every source, on elect26 →
elect26 places 2026 midterm candidates on a six-tier spectrum, from 1 (most pro-Israel) to 6 (most critical of Israel).