Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York holds the honor of becoming the first member of Congress so far in the 2024 election cycle to lose to a challenger in both party primaries.
And Bowman would become the first member of the Squad, a progressive group of diverse House Democrats, to be expelled from Congress.
This comes after the Associated Press projected that Bowman’s rival, George Latimer, would beat him in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in New York’s 16th Congressional District, which includes southern Westchester County. [in suburban New York City] And a small part of the Bronx.
The primary between Bowman, a former middle school principal who defeated 16-term Rep. Eliot Engel in the Democratic primary four years ago, and Latimer, the Westchester County Executive, has already gone down in history as the most expensive House primary in U.S. history.
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Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-New York) greets Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) during a campaign stop in the Bronx, New York City, June 22, 2024. REUTERS/Joy Malone (Reuters/Joy Malone)
And the pitched fight between Squad members and more moderate challengers has highlighted deep divisions within the Democratic Party over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
Bowman, who has publicly voiced support for the Palestinians during the Gaza war and accused Israel of committing genocide, was the target of roughly $14 million in spending from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a deep-pocketed pro-Israel group that backed Latimer.
WATCH: This House primary is the most expensive in congressional history
Progressive rock stars Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York supported Bowman and joined the embattled lawmaker at a rally in the Bronx on Saturday, which was hardly a PG-rated spectacle as Bowman repeatedly used foul language.
“We’re going to show AIPAC the power of that motherfucker South Bronx!” Bowman said at a rally outside the district lines.
Latimer told reporters on Monday that Bowman’s language was “inappropriate. That’s it.”
Mr Latimer added: “During this campaign I’ve had a lot of nasty things said to me. I opened my county weekly newspaper and I saw people calling me Genocide George. All sorts of slurs were thrown at me.”
“I believe there are a lot of unfair and inaccurate criticisms being levelled at me by my opponents,” Latimer said, “but I don’t believe I have the right to vent my anger. I don’t believe I have the right to swear in public or behave in a certain way.”
Westchester County Mayor George Latimer, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman in the primary for New York’s 16th Congressional District, speaks after receiving an endorsement from local clergy leaders on June 24, 2024, in Mount Vernon, New York. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
The war between Israel and Hamas was a major issue in the primary election, but it was not the only one.
Bowman attracted much attention during his four years in Congress for bickering with Republicans and for setting off a fire alarm in the House office building during a vote on the government budget last year, but he was also criticized for voting against President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill and for voting against raising the debt ceiling.
Beating an incumbent is extremely difficult, and no challenger has yet managed to do so this election cycle, but Latimer is well known in the district.
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Latimer, a former state senator, has been endorsed by local mayors, city council members, several Westchester County legislators and former Secretary of State and Senator Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate who lives near his district in northern Westchester County.
He spoke to reporters Monday at an event where he received endorsements from more than a half-dozen diverse clergy leaders in the district.
Advertising on Latimer’s behalf is also a factor: Outside groups and the two campaigns spent a record $25 million on ads in the district, which sits in New York’s pricey media market, according to AddiImpact, a nationally known ad-tracking firm.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman, Democrat of New York, addresses a crowd during a campaign rally in the Bronx borough of New York City, June 22, 2024. REUTERS/Joy Malone (Reuters/Joy Malone)
“This race has attracted national attention because it’s the ultimate numbers vs. money race, and we are the numbers, we are the people,” Bowman said at a campaign event Monday.
And he argued, “We can’t let special interest billionaires buy our seats.”
The primary also hinged on age and race: Bowman, 48, is black and one of the rising stars of a new generation of Democrats, while Latimer, 70, is white and has an old-fashioned, retail-style approach to politics.
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