Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a vocal Israel critic and ‘squad’ member, loses primary

Progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., suffered a primary defeat Tuesday to a moderate challenger who was backed by pro-Israel groups, NBC News projected, following a bitter and expensive race that exposed the party’s divisions over the war in Gaza.

The race between Bowman and Westchester County Executive George Latimer in New York’s 16th District drew more ad spending — $25 million, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact — than any other House primary in history. Nearly $15 million of that spending came from the United Democracy Project, a super PAC linked to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful pro-Israel lobby, which backed Latimer.

With 68% of the vote in, Latimer led Bowman by a wide margin, 55.7% to 44.3%.

Speaking to a roomful of his supporters Tuesday night, Bowman conceded defeat to his “opponents,” most likely a nod to big-spending outside groups, but he vowed that the broader fight for “humanity and justice” would go on.

“This race was never about me and me alone. It was never about this district and this district alone. It was always about all of us,” Bowman said. “Now, our opponents — not opponent — may have won this round, at this time, in this place. But this will be a battle for our humanity and justice for the rest of our lives.”

Bowman, 48, one of Congress’ fiercest critics of Israel, is the first incumbent Democratic lawmaker to lose a primary this election cycle and the first member of the so-called “squad” of progressive lawmakers of color to be ousted from power since the group formed after the 2018 elections. Other squad members, including Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Summer Lee, D-Pa., have been targeted but survived primary challenges.

Bowman, a former Bronx middle school principal, stormed Washington after he unseated 16-term Rep. Eliot Engel, then the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee and one of the most powerful Jewish lawmakers in Congress, in 2020.

Bowman won re-election in two years later, but opponents viewed him as more vulnerable this cycle after he committed a series of unforced errors.

Last fall, Bowman pleaded guilty to falsely pulling a fire alarm in a House building in the middle of a vote on a GOP bill to avert a government shutdown. Bowman claimed it was an accident, but Republicans accused him of trying to interrupt official business of the House, and voters repeatedly quizzed him about the fire alarm incident on the campaign trail.

Bowman also said reports of sexual violence during the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel were “propaganda”; he walked back those comments after the United Nations said sexual assaults had occurred.

Latimer, 70, has been involved in local and state politics for more than 35 years. He first won election in New York to the Rye City Council in 1987, and he would go on to win seats on the Westchester County Board of Legislators and in the state Assembly and Senate.

As the Democratic nominee, Latimer will almost certainly be the next representative from New York’s 16th District, a diverse area north of Manhattan that includes parts of the Bronx and south Westchester County. Joe Biden won the deep-blue district over Donald Trump by nearly 45 percentage points in 2020, according to Daily Kos Elections.

“Tonight, we turn the page and we say that we believe in inclusion of everybody in our representation,” Latimer said Tuesday night, flanked by supporters at his election party. “That you are included no matter what your demographic is. Doesn’t matter your age, color of your skin, your religion, sexual identity, whether you’re a right-hander or a left-hander. Whether you’re a Mets fan or a Yankee fan.”

Several prominent figures waded into the race down the stretch. Progressive heroes, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D.N.Y. — another member of the squad — campaigned for Bowman, while Hillary Clinton, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and former New York Gov. David Paterson endorsed Latimer. 

When former Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., a onetime Bowman ally and former fellow member of the Congressional Black Caucus, also endorsed Latimer, citing Bowman’s criticism of Israel, progressives revolted. The Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Working Families Party of New York rescinded their endorsement of Jones, who was running in a neighboring New York district with a large Jewish population.

Still, Jones won the Democratic nomination in the 17th District on Tuesday, setting up a matchup with vulnerable Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in the fall as Democrats try to reclaim a seat that flipped from blue to red in 2022.

Ocasio-Cortez easily won the Democratic primary in New York’s 14th District.