MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. — An increasingly fierce intra-Democratic battle between far-left “Squad” lawmakers and their moderate opponents, highlighting deep divisions within the party over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, is a focus of attention as primaries are held in New York, Colorado and Utah on Tuesday.
And in New York’s 16th Congressional District (which covers southern Westchester County), a race is underway between two-term Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Westchester County Mayor George Latimer. [in suburban New York City] The primary, which includes parts of the Bronx, is already recording the most expensive House primary in American history.
But the race could make more history: Bowman, a former middle school principal who defeated 16-term Rep. Eliot Engel in the Democratic primary four years ago, will now become the first member of “The Squad,” a diverse group of House Democrats’ progressives, to be expelled from Congress and the first member of either party to lose a primary this term.
Bowman, who has publicly voiced support for the Palestinians during the Gaza war and accused Israel of committing genocide, has been the target of roughly $14 million in spending from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a deep-pocketed pro-Israel group that backs Latimer.
WATCH: This House primary is the most expensive in congressional history
Rep. Jamaal Bowman greets Sen. Bernie Sanders during a campaign event in the Bronx, New York City, on June 22, 2024. (Reuters/Joy Malone)
Progressive rock stars Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York have 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 f***ing AIPAC the power of the f***ing South Bronx!” Bowman said at a rally outside his district’s boundaries.
See the latest Fox News coverage of the primary campaign here
Latimer told reporters on Monday that Bowman’s language was “inappropriate.”
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 New York State 16th Congressional District primary, 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 is a major issue in the primary election, but it is 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 budget vote last year, but he has also come under fire 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, a former state senator, is well known in the district.
He has been endorsed by the local mayor and 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 constituency 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 from his congressional 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.
While the Democratic primary contest between Bowman and Latimer will likely attract the most attention in Tuesday’s primary, it’s far from the only contest worth watching.
John Avlon, a former Fox News analyst and co-founder of the political group No Labels who later worked as a CNN anchor, is facing off against former Stony Brook University chemistry professor Nancy Goroff in the Democratic primary for New York’s 1st Congressional District on the eastern end of Long Island, a district won by President Biden in 2020. The winner will face Republican Rep. Nick LaLota in November.
In Colorado, seven Republicans are running to replace Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert in the state’s hotly contested 3rd Congressional District, who nearly lost her 2022 election but decided to run this year in the Republican-leaning 4th Congressional District.
Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)
Boebert is seen as the favorite to win the 4th District seat being vacated by Republican Rep. Ken Buck, who retired from Congress.
In Utah, the fight to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Mitt Romney has been in the spotlight.
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Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee, has been a vocal Republican critic of former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee in 2024.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) speaks to media about his intention not to run for a second term in 2023 at the Sen. Russell Office Building in Washington, DC, on September 13, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)
Trump has endorsed Riverton, Utah, Mayor Trent Staggs, who received the most votes at the state’s convention in April and is also endorsed by the Utah Republican Party.
But Rep. John Curtis, a former Democrat and environmental activist who voted to accept Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, has a solid fundraising lead over Staggs.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox, one of Trump’s biggest Republican critics, is facing a primary against Phil Lyman, who also rejected the 2020 presidential election and won handily at the state convention. Trump has so far remained neutral and has not endorsed Lyman.
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital’s Election Hub.
