House progressives face the biggest threat to their power in years following the ouster of Rep. Jamaal Bowman (DN.Y.) in New York.
Bowman, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), became the first member of the “Squad” to lose reelection after being defeated by moderate George Latimer in a race that was defined by inflamed intraparty tensions during the Israel-Hamas war.
Members of the left are also facing the possibility of a second major defeat, as Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), another member of the Squad, faces a strong Democratic opponent in August, raising questions about the influence progressives will have in the Congress. advance.
“I was supporting Jamaal and it’s sad to see him lose that race, obviously he’s a colleague, CCP member and fellow progressive,” said Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Florida).
“Losing a CCP member hurts the progressive movement,” Frost added. “Often [you] take a few steps forward, take a few steps back and move on.”
Bowman’s defeat exposed flaws in the left’s campaign playbook. He had already lost the trust of his progressive colleagues, who viewed his re-election against Latimer, the Westchester County executive, as a long shot. Many organizers who wanted to see Bowman pull off an unlikely victory knew his chances were slim.
Progressives viewed the election as a referendum on “big money” in politics, with the 16th Congressional District serving as a laboratory for pro-Israel groups. The race was the most expensive House Democratic primary in history, thanks in large part to contributions from these groups.
At the center of the money rush was the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which pumped about $14 million into the race for anti-Bowman and pro-Latimer ads.
“I think it was money,” said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), former PCC chairman. “The message is a little over the top in the primaries, that’s a little bit of the problem, but when you have so much money influencing what’s being talked about, and it’s not coming from either candidate, I mean, that’s fundamentally the problem.”
Michael Ceraso, a veteran Democratic strategist, said the excessive spending seen in races like Bowman’s could shape candidates’ positions and have a “cascading impact” on other proxy progressives.
“Unfortunately, politicians on both sides of the aisle often align on where the money is,” Ceraso said.
Bowman’s criticism of Israel amid the ongoing war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the wake of the October 7 attacks has turned his race into a referendum on how palatable his position is, especially since his district has a strong Jewish population. Now Democrats are trying to determine what the lessons of his run are for the party across the country.
“You can never lose touch with your district,” said one Democratic lawmaker, speaking without attribution to express criticism of Bowman. “You need to know who your voters are. And so when you lose touch with your voters, that’s what happens.”
“Of course, a lot of money was invested in the dispute, but I think mainly he lost touch with his district,” the lawmaker added.
Progressives have increased criticism of Israel since the October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,000 people and triggered retaliatory actions that, in turn, led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians. Bowman has emerged as one of Israel’s most vocal critics in Congress, calling for a ceasefire ahead of other colleagues in the lower house and drawing attention to the collective death toll in Gaza.
Many high-profile progressives rallied around the endangered Bowman, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.), who drew crowds in the Bronx the weekend before the primaries .
Heading into Tuesday, Bowman, 48, had lagged significantly behind Latimer, 70, in polls, and struggled to get out of the way of attacks over phrases like “genocide” and “apartheid” that he often used to describe the Israel’s actions against the Palestinians.
Many of his Democratic counterparts in the House criticized his terminology. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (DN.J.), who is Jewish, became the first sitting member of Congress to support Latimer in the days before the election.
“I just think last night was a show that common-sense Democrats won last night,” Gottheimer told The Hill on Wednesday.
Pro-Israel groups latched onto Bowman’s remarks and spent a lot of money to create a narrative that suggested the incumbent promoted anti-Semitic sentiments. The most recognized group, AIPAC, and its adjacent super PAC invested $14.5 million in the race, in what progressives consider one of the biggest contributors to Bowman’s defeat.
“What this shows my friends on the progressive left is that you can go out and fight for the Palestinians, you can go out and fight and be anti-war. But when people shout in the streets ‘kill the Jews,’ right, ‘go back to Poland,’ right, you can’t stay silent,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Florida), another Jewish Democrat. “And many of them here were silent.”
“You can do both,” Moskowitz added. “I think you can be completely against anti-Semitism and fight for the people in Gaza. And I think the voters in his district decided he wasn’t doing that.”
Progressives, however, saw the influx of money as part of a larger problem amid a growing divide between progressives and moderate Democrats in the House.
Hassan Martini, executive director of No Dem Left Behind, which helps progressive candidates get elected to higher office, called AIPAC and the pro-Israel lobby “anti-democratic and against free speech” — a common call among leftists who have seen their flank rise since Ocasio- Cortez’s stunning upset against an establishment incumbent in 2018.
“It’s not about progressive versus non-progressive; it’s about the ability to speak freely without being attacked by interest groups,” said Martini. “The more money AIPAC invests, the more they unite everyone else against them. The ramifications of these harmful actions will be felt politically far into the future by the pro-Israel lobby.”
The results represent a surprising turn of events from just a few years ago, when Bowman first defeated strongly pro-Israel Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) as part of a wave to the left that also included Bush’s success. in Missouri.
Pro-Israel groups are also now helping fund Bush’s opponent, St. Louis County District Attorney Wesley Bell, in hopes of replicating Bowman’s loss in his district. The morning after Bowman’s defeat, the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) released new polls with the Mellman Group showing that Bush and Bell are statistically tied for what was previously considered a safer seat for Bush.
“Voters in your district, but across the country, need to be very careful about the large expenditures that can occur because you can become overwhelmed by the number of ads,” said Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), another senior member. new from the Squad, about the upcoming Bush primaries.
“Sir. Bowman’s race opens the floodgates for potentially tens of millions of dollars spent in the primary, tens of millions of dollars that don’t necessarily talk in their ads about the issues that concern this great interest, but about something else,” Casar said. .
“In the short term, it will be very important that Democratic primary voters across the country are aware that unprecedented money is now being spent to smear progressives and that they should be much more skeptical of what they are constantly seeing in the your Hulu or your social media stream or on broadcast TV,” he added.
While progressives were largely demoralized, moderate Democrats viewed Bowman’s fate as a positive sign for centrists.
Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), president of the centrist New Democratic Coalition, called “a moderate and pragmatic approach” the way to win in the fall. Like others in their camp, moderates are turning their attention to Biden and the possibility that Republicans aligned with former President Trump will claim parts of Washington as the final benchmark for voters to consider.
“The stakes are so high in this election that voters understand that our freedom is at the ballot box, our democracy is at the ballot box,” Kuster said. “And so they understand that they need to make a pragmatic choice in these primaries to position the right person to win back.”
Progressives are not as focused on the Biden-Trump effect and still see merits in promoting a center-left agenda. Many say Bowman’s loss and Bush’s uncertain future highlight problems within the party.
Bowman’s defeat signifies “how far things have gone backwards since we acquiesced to Biden’s centrist, outspoken pro-war worldview,” said Cullen Tiernan, political director for a New Hampshire-based local union.
“The goals of the progressive movement, whether it’s world peace, health care for all, dark money out of politics — they’ve all taken a back seat to subservience to Biden and the party,” he said.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
