Progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-New York) lost his primary election on Tuesday to a moderate candidate backed by pro-Israel groups, NBC News reported, the defeat following a bitter and costly campaign that exposed divisions within the party over the Gaza war.
Bowman’s race in New York’s 16th Congressional District against Westchester County Mayor George Latimer has raised more ad spending ($25 million) than any House primary in history, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact. About $15 million of that spending came from the United Democracy Project, a super PAC with ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group that backed Latimer.
As of Wednesday morning, with 84% of the votes counted, Latimer had a strong lead over Bowman, 58.4% to 41.6%.
Bowman conceded defeat to his “enemies” in front of a roomful of supporters on Tuesday night, an apparent nod to the highly-funded outside groups, but vowed that the broader fight for “humanity and justice” would continue.
“This race has never been just about me. It has never been just about this district or this neighborhood. It has always been about all of us,” Bowman said at the Grand Roosevelt Ballroom in Yonkers. “Now, our opponent may have won this time, this place, this round, but this will be a fight for humanity and justice for the rest of our lives.”
Bowman, 48, is one of Congress’ fiercest critics of Israel and the first Democratic incumbent to lose a primary this election cycle, and the first member of the so-called “Squad” of progressive lawmakers of color formed after the 2018 election to be ousted from power. Other members of the Squad, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Summer Lee (D-Pa.), were targeted but survived primary challenges.
Bowman, a former Bronx middle school principal, stormed into Washington in 2020 after unseating 16-term Rep. Eliot Engel, who was then chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and one of the most influential Jewish members of Congress.
Bowman was re-elected two years later, but a series of self-destructive mistakes left his opponents seeing him as more vulnerable this time around.
Bowman pleaded guilty last fall to accidentally setting off a fire alarm in the House building during a vote on a Republican bill to avert a government shutdown. Bowman maintained it was an accident, but Republicans accused him of trying to disrupt the House’s business, and voters repeatedly asked him about the fire alarm during his campaign.
Bowman also said reports of sexual assaults during the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel were “propaganda,” but he retracted his statement after the UN said sexual assaults had occurred.
Latimer, 70, has been involved in local and state politics for more than 35 years, first being elected to the Rye, New York City Council in 1987 and subsequently holding seats in the Westchester County Council, the State Assembly and the State Senate.
Democratic candidate Latimer will almost certainly become the next representative for New York’s 16th Congressional District, a diverse area of ​​northern Manhattan that includes the Bronx and parts of southern Westchester County. Joe Biden won the heavily Democratic district in 2020 by nearly 45 percentage points over Donald Trump, according to Daily Kos Elections.
“Tonight we turn a new page and declare that we believe in including everyone in our representation,” Latimer said Tuesday night as he was surrounded by supporters at a campaign party. “No matter what your demographic is, you are included. It doesn’t matter your age, your skin color, your religion, your sexual identity, if you’re right-handed or left-handed. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Mets fan or a Yankees fan.”
Several big names joined the race in the final days: Progressive heroes like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) endorsed Bowman, while Hillary Clinton, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Jersey) and former New York Gov. David Paterson backed Latimer.
Progressives were outraged when former New York state Assemblyman Mondaire Jones, a one-time ally of Bowman and former member of the Congressional Black Caucus, also endorsed Latimer because of Bowman’s criticism of Israel. The Progressive Caucus and the New York Working Families Party withdrew their support for Jones, who was running in a neighboring New York district with a large Jewish population.
Still, Jones won the Democratic nomination for the 17th Congressional District on Tuesday, setting him up to face off against Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in the fall as Democrats seek to retake a seat that flipped from blue to red in 2022.
Ocasio-Cortez handily won the Democratic primary in New York’s 14th district.
Other New York primary fights
Tuesday’s primary elections also determined how battleground states will fare in November. New York is key to Democrats gaining control of the House, and five Republican representatives are in districts won by Biden in 2020. Democrats only need a net gain of just five seats to take control of the House.
There was little drama in the primary in most battleground districts, except for New York’s 1st District. NBC News reported that former CNN anchor John Avlon won the Democratic primary and will face off against Republican Rep. Nick LaLota. Avlon defeated Nancy Goroff, a college professor who ran unsuccessfully in 2020.
Democrats also selected State Senator John Mannion to face Republican Rep. Brandon Williams in New York’s 22nd Central District, which was redrawn this year to favor Democrats.
In other battleground districts, the matchups have been pretty much set for some time. Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito will face former Hempstead Mayor Laura Guillen in a rematch in 2022. Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro is also facing attorney Josh Riley in a rematch.
The two Democrats on defense this year also learned who their Republican opponents will be on Tuesday.
Rep. Pat Ryan will face off against former New York City police officer Allison Esposito, who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2022. And Rep. Tom Suozzi, who won a special election to reclaim his old Long Island-based seat, will face off against former state Rep. Mike LiPetri.
