Doctor From Belleville Is Running For Congress Against Mikie Sherrill

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — An emergency room doctor from Belleville who has practiced in Montclair and East Orange is running for Congress in 2024.

Raafat Barsoom, 56, announced Wednesday that he is seeking the Republican nomination for a House seat in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District in the upcoming primary election. The district is currently represented by Mikie Sherrill, a Democratic Party member.

Barsoom – an immigrant from Cairo – said he is campaigning on a platform that includes tackling “illegal immigration, crime, taxes and education.”

“The primary duty of government is to protect our nation’s sovereignty and keep our citizens safe,” Barsoom said. “The Biden Administration and Mikie Sherrill are failing on both counts.”

Other candidates seeking the Republican nomination in the June 4 primary election include Joseph Belnome and John Sauers. Candidates seeking the Democratic nomination include Sherrill and Mark DeLotto.

According to a news release from his campaign team, Barsoom was born in Egypt to a working-class family. He was admitted to the University of Cairo and earned a medical degree in 1993. He continued his education at the American University in Cairo, until he became a consultant to the United Nations Development Programs in Cairo. Barsoom then opened a medical office in a low-income neighborhood, later joining an American non-governmental organization that leveraged United States aid to improve the health care of the local population.

After receiving death threats due to his Christian faith, Barsoom fled Egypt with just $200 in his pocket, his campaign team said.

When Barsoom entered the United States legally in 1998, his Egyptian medical degree wasn’t recognized, so he was forced to work low-wage jobs to earn a new medical degree and raise enough money to bring his wife, Eva, and 7-year-old daughter to the country.

Barsoom began his U.S. surgical residency at Jacobi and Montefiore hospitals in the Bronx, N.Y. He then started his emergency and trauma medicine residency at SUNY Downstate Hospital and Kings County Hospital, both in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Eventually he and his wife earned enough money to buy a house in Belleville, where their son was born.

In 2010, Barsoom began practicing at Mountainside Hospital in Montclair as an emergency room doctor. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he went to Texas and worked in a makeshift intensive care unit with beds for coronavirus patients.

Now – as an emergency room doctor at CareWell Health Medical Center in East Orange –Barsoom’s experiences in the medical profession continue to influence his political platform.

“Sadly, every week I have to tell a mother that her son or daughter has died,” he said. “I don’t want to go on doing that. I want to go to Congress and make a difference in people’s lives.”

The 11th District includes the following municipalities:

• Essex County – Belleville, Bloomfield, Cedar Grove, Fairfield, Glen Ridge, Livingston, Maplewood, Millburn, Montclair (part), North Caldwell, Nutley, Roseland, South Orange, West Caldwell
• Morris County – Boonton, Boonton Township, Butler, Chatham, Chatham Township, Denville, Dover, East Hanover, Florham Park, Hanover, Harding, Jefferson, Kinnelon, Lincoln Park, Madison, Mendham Twp (part), Montville, Morris Plains, Morris Township, Morristown Town, Mountain Lakes, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Pequannock, Randolph, Riverdale, Rockaway, Rockaway Township, Victory Gardens
• Passaic County – Little Falls, Totowa, Wayne (part), Woodland Park

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.