Bowman loses New York primary in blow to progressives

George Latimer unseated Rep. Jamaal Bowman (DN.Y.) in the Democratic primary in New York’s 16th Congressional District, Decision Desk headquarters projects, dealing a blow to progressives in what was the most contentious primary of the party’s cycle.

Latimer, a Westchester county executive, defeated Bowman in a fierce race that became a proxy battle between different ideological factions of the Democratic Party, with the central issue separating the candidates being their positions on Israel in the midst of the ongoing war. of the country with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Millions of dollars were invested in the race from within and outside the district, making it the most expensive House primary in history. Leaders from both wings of the party participated, with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) endorsing moderate Latimer, while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio – Cortez (DN.Y.) supported Bowman.

Bowman became a member of the “Squad,” a group of the most progressive Democrats in the House, after winning his House seat in 2020. His first election came through his own successful primary challenge to unseat a longtime moderate incumbent. date, the then deputy. Eliot Engel (D).

His race against Latimer revealed divisions within the Democratic Party that were even more pronounced after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which killed nearly 1,200 people. The trend has increased as the death toll in Gaza has continued to rise since Israel launched its counteroffensive, surpassing 35,000, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Health Ministry.

Latimer focused much of his campaign on Bowman’s comments and votes regarding the conflict. He went after Bowman for calling for a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, as well as for opposing additional arms shipments to Israel.

Latimer also criticized the incumbent’s comments in November, calling Hamas’ reports of rape and other forms of sexual violence on October 7 “lies” and “propaganda.” Bowman later walked back those comments and apologized for them last week, saying he voted to condemn sexual violence that occurred after the United Nations provided additional evidence that it happened.

But Latimer’s supporters used Bowman’s comments about the sexual violence that occurred in mailings sent to voters to attack him.

Some Democratic voters demonstrated the wartime divide in the party through the presidential primaries, with a relatively small but not insignificant portion of voters choosing a “noncommittal” option rather than voting for President Biden to protest the way his administration dealt with the war.

But this was the clearest confrontation between the party’s factions.

The battle between Latimer and Bowman became intense at times, especially during the few debates in which they were involved.

Latimer alleged that Bowman’s words undermined Israel’s right to defend itself and exist and accused Bowman of ignoring constituents such as those who are Asian or not black or brown. Meanwhile, Bowman accused Latimer of using a “racist dog whistle” by saying that Bowman’s “constituency” was Dearborn, Michigan, a predominantly Arab-American area represented by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), another member of the Squad and staunch critic of Israel. .

Both rejected the accusations.

The 16th District is a heavily Jewish area, but also has Arab-American residents.

Polls before the primary showed that Bowman could be highly vulnerable to being ousted. Latimer led Bowman in a poll earlier this month by 17 points.

Bowman’s defeat makes him the first incumbent House Democrat to lose a primary contest this election cycle. Latimer is almost certain to win the House seat in November in the solidly blue district.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story