TARRYTOWN, NY – TARRYTOWN, New York (AP) – The war between Israel and Hamas is shaking up the congressional primary election between two Democrats in New York, reflecting a divide that has divided the party nationally since the conflict began last year.
US Representative Jamaal Bowmanone of several House liberals who have questioned the Biden administration’s vigorous support for Israel’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on civilians in southern Israel, is facing a stiff challenge from centrists George Latimera senior county official who entered the race with the support of Jewish leaders in a largely suburban district north of New York City.
Bowman, a former high school principal seeking a third term, has been one of the House’s most critical voices toward Israel. Although he condemned the Hamas attack, he stated that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. He was also among some members of Congress who opposed a symbolic resolution supporting Israel after the October 7 attack because it did not call for a ceasefire or pressure to protect Palestinian civilians.
Latimer, 70, has been a political figure in the district for more than three decades and serves as Westchester County executive after holding positions as a local and state legislator. He said Bowman’s rhetoric about Israel was only part of the reason he entered the race. A bigger reason, he said, was that people want a more moderate and pragmatic representative than Bowman, who has sometimes been accused of being more concerned about his national profile than the district’s problems.
In a year when New York’s congressional elections are expected to play a key role in determining who controls the House, this seat, which includes parts of the Bronx and Westchester, is expected to remain in Democratic hands regardless of whoever wins the June 25 primaries. .
Still, the result could give Democrats clues about how to frame their message in November, especially on the war, and signal how crucial suburban districts might vote in the fall.
In an interview, Bowman defended his position on Israel.
“In the same way that I cannot support or condone the horrific attacks of October 7th, there is no way I can support or condone the genocide that is happening in Gaza right now,” Bowman said. in the US because Israel is supposed to be an ally and they are not following international law.”
This stance put him at odds with much of the Democratic establishment and resulted in a campaign to remove he from the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee, a major lobbying organization that is working to oust progressives who criticized Israel.
Bowman said the group is trying to “buy this race.”
“They are leveraging all their resources to try to silence me or intimidate me and intimidate me into doing what they want me to do,” he said.
Bowman won office as a liberal insurgent in 2020, defeating U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, who served 16 terms and was chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Bowman’s position towards Israel and the Palestinians it was also less of an issue in that race. Engel, who is Jewish, was a strong supporter of Israel.
But Bowman, who is black, has proven himself to be the candidate of the moment in an election year that has featured massive protests against racial injustice following the police killing of George Floyd. His victory came just two years after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s shocking upset in a nearby congressional district over U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley, who at the time was the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House.
In a potentially telling sign of the state of the Democratic Party this year, former U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones, a progressive Democrat who entered Congress the same year as Bowman and served one term, recently opted to support Latimer in the race.
“I’m making this endorsement to advocate for my Jewish constituents, because Representative Bowman and I have very different views on Israel,” said Jones, who is trying to regain a seat in Congress after losing his former district in a congressional boundary redraw. “It’s really clear that Mr. Bowman is focused on doing what he wants to do and, I would say, not enough on how it’s impacting the environment here in the Hudson Valley.”
The strategy largely reflects Democrats’ political plans for New York’s midterm elections this year. The party has tried to move closer to the center to attract suburban voters who are typically more moderate.
Latimer, who scored the endorsement of former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, is happy to rattle off the names of local officials she worked with and delve into the minutiae of day-to-day government – dealing with potholes, restoring a lighthouse, and holding meetings about a problem at the local airport .
“If I go to Washington, I will not go there to be part of the verbal food fight. I’m going to try to figure out how to be a productive congressman who gets the results possible,” Latimer said in an interview.
Both candidates support a two-state solution and say they want peace in the region. But where is Bowman pointed in Israel’s actions and desires? a ceasefireLatimer is clear in his support for Israel and has said negotiating with Hamas is a failure – although he has said he will not give Israel “a blank check” in anything it does.
“I clearly support having a two-state solution and negotiating peace,” he said, but “don’t tell me, ‘Cease fire now.’ Who I am negotiating with in Hamas is a terrorist organization that is committed to my destruction.”
Bowman, in addition to his views on Israel, raised his profile nationally when he pulled a fire alarm in a House office building while lawmakers were working on a funding bill last year. He said it was a mistake to try to open a locked door while rushing to vote, although House colleagues later censored him that’s why.
Bowman said the fire alarm “goes off once every 200 conversations” when he’s back home, particularly when “older mothers in the district, older black women literally slap me on the wrist and say, ‘Stay away. of problems there’”.
Jimmy Hickey, a 60-year-old man who lives in the district and works as a concierge at a co-op building, raised the fire alarm spontaneously when an Associated Press reporter asked about the primary — “that’s childish,” he said. Hickey said he is a registered Democrat but thinks the party has moved too far to the left.
“A guy like Latimer is still a moderate,” Hickey said. “He gets into Congress, he can work with people, get things done. The other guy, I don’t think so.
