Aber Kawas

Aber Kawas (; born March 8, 1992) is a Palestinian-American Democratic Socialist politician and community organizer. She is the Democratic nominee for the New York State Senate for the 12th district.

Biography Background Kawas was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, to undocumented parents from Palestine. Kawas as a teenager "was spending every weekend taking three-hour rides to a detention center" to visit her father, which moved her to start organizing to support the DREAM Act for comprehensive immigration reform.

Education Kawas graduated from the City College of New York with a degree in international studies concentrating on Latin American studies in 2014. In 2011, she learned that her college crush had been an informant for the NYPD, spying on Muslim students. This revelation sparked Kawas's interest in advocacy work for civil rights.

Kawas earned a master’s degree in "Islamic Liberation Theology" from the University of Johannesburg in South Africa and reportedly returned to New York City in 2024.

Personal life Kawas moved to Queens in 2024. and has worked with the Council on American–Islamic Relations and Urban Justice Center on issues concerning immigration, racial profiling and police surveillance. In 2016, while at AAANY, she began volunteering for Khader El-Yateem's campaign for New York City Council, which was her first step toward electoral politics. collaborating with Zohran Mamdani, who had also canvassed for El-Yateem's campaign. As an Assemblymember, Mamdani introduced the bill.

Politics

Aber Kawas greets her cheering supporters on June 23rd, 2026 in Woodside, Queens, just after news organizations announced she had won her primary election. In January 2026, Kawas announced she would run for the New York State Assembly's 34th District to succeed Jessica González-Rojas, who was running for the New York State Senate against incumbent Jessica Ramos. Kawas said she started to think about becoming a candidate after being approached by the NYC-DSA recruitment team. She prioritized three policy areas: "protecting immigrant communities" from ICE, affordability, and "fast and free transit" such as buses. and DRUM Beats, notably besting her primary opponent Brian Romero for NYC-DSA's and DRUM Beats's endorsements. However, when Michael Gianaris announced he would retire from the State Senate, Kawas pivoted her campaign to succeed Gianaris, without changing her policy platform. NYC-DSA, and received endorsements from Councilmembers Chi Ossé and Tiffany Cabán, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Bernie Sanders. She said in 2026 that "the right wing" had "cherry-picked" and "twisted" her comments on "9/11 and the consequences to Arab and Muslim communities".

Kawas travelled to Michigan in the summer of 2026 to campaign for Abdul El-Sayed's candidacy for the US Senate, and Donavan McKinney's campaign for the US House of Representatives, in Michigan's Democratic primary elections.

Policy stances Kawas supports renewable energy, opposes the death penalty, and supports universal healthcare.