Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York, one of Congress’s most outspoken progressives, suffered a crushing defeat on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, for being unable to overcome his battle. record-breaking epidemic from pro-Israel groups and a series of self-inflicted blunders.
Mr. Bowman was defeated by George Latimer, the Westchester County executive, in a race that became the ugliest intraparty brawl of the year and the The main house is the most expensive in history.
It started last fall when Mr. Bowman stepped forward as one of the leading critics of the way the Israelis conducted their war with Hamas. But the competition has evolved a broader proxy war hinges on the future of the Democratic Party, exposing painful fissures of race, class and ideology in a diverse district that includes parts of Westchester County and the Bronx.
Mr Bowman, the district’s first black congressman and a committed democratic socialist, has never wavered from calls for a ceasefire in Gaza or the economic priorities of the left. Down in the polls, he has repeatedly accused his white opponent of racism and Use obscene language to denounce pro-Israel groups see it as a “Zionist regime” trying to buy the election.
His views on war and economic issues inspired national progressives, who took on 11th hour rescue mission led by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. But in the end they failed to win over skeptical voters and only emboldened his opponents.
A super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying organization, poured $15 million to defeat himmore than any outside group has ever spent on a House race.
Mr. Latimer, a moderate with loyal locals, has asked voters to return to more traditional Democratic politics. Centrists and Jewish voters flocked to him. Mr. Bowman alienated others with a series of embarrassing gaffes that he struggled to explain, most notably his decision to pulled a false fire alarm in the House office building last fall.
Result was not near. With 70% of the votes counted, Mr. Latimer won by 55% to 45%.
With the overwhelming Democratic Party in the region, Mr. Latimer is expected to easily win the general election. At 70, he would be one of the oldest House freshmen and would likely provide a reliable vote for party leaders.
Speaking to supporters in suburban White Plains, Mr. Latimer said he would fight for bipartisanship in Washington and inclusivity at home, but he also took aim at extremist views in both parties. .
“We have to look at the arguments of the far right and the far left and say, ‘you cannot destroy this country with your words and arguments,’” he said.
Mr. Bowman, 48, struck a defiant tone in his concession speech. He said he would “never support the bombing and killing of babies in Gaza” or his district and added, “when we say ‘Free Palestine’ it is not anti Jewish.”
“I would like to issue a public apology for the occasional use of obscene language,” he said. “But we should not adapt well to a sick society.”
The election results are a heavy blow to the left.
This movement helped Mr. Bowman win an upset victory in the Democratic primary election in 2020, just two years after Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s primary election, as evidence of the rise of the leftNow, as the pendulum swings back toward the party’s center, he is the first member of the House’s “team” of young, left-wing lawmakers of color to lose his seat — and may not be the last.
AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups have targeting Representative Cori Bush of Missouri ahead of the August primary, and progressives fear that the show of force by New York groups will dampen criticism of Israel in Congress as the war continues.
A former middle school principal representing one of the most Jewish districts in the nation, Mr. Bowman was a non-partisan in the conflict 5,600 miles away. Four years ago, he actually criticized his opponent, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, for spending too much time on issues far from his district.
But after the outbreak of war, Mr. Bowman threw himself into the Palestinian cause, seeing it as an extension of his work for children and racial justice at home.
Although he repeatedly condemned Hamas, Mr. Bowman was one of the first lawmakers to call for a ceasefire, just days after the October 7 attack by Hamas; accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza; and called on the United States to cut off all funding to its ally.
His supporters saw his courageous humanitarian stance and argued that Mr. Bowman was speaking for black and Latino voters, who make up nearly half of the district’s population.
But at home, many Jewish voters, including some who enthusiastically helped elect him in 2020, feel betrayed.
Mr. Bowman did not visit the synagogue in the weeks after the October 7 attack and has since made statements that some see as anti-Semitic, such as when he suggests “Jews” in his district deliberately chose to live apart from others.
Mr. Latimer, a more traditional supporter of Israel, entered the race in December at the urging of local rabbis and a Westchester County Democratic organization that had never gotten over a grudge from the year 2020.
“After Jamaal Bowman really denied the Jewish experience — and more specifically the Israeli experience — after October 7, I realized: ‘This guy is not willing to see reason, and he have to go,'” said Raphael Rosen, a nephrologist from New Rochelle.
He added: “A lot of strong Israeli supporters backed him in 2020 and I heard them all say it was a big mistake.”
AIPAC’s participation further intensifies the race. A bipartisan group dedicated to promoting Israel’s interests in the United States, it has recently taken an increasingly active role in electoral politics to try to quell growing skepticism toward Israel among the parties Democrats, especially young progressives.
Mr. Bowman not only presented a vulnerable target but also an opportunity to send a message.
The group contributed $2 million directly to Mr. Latimer, while its super PAC, the United Democracy Project, spent more than seven times more than Mr. Bowman’s allies combined.
The ads almost never mention Israel itself, instead criticizing Mr. Bowman as a disloyal Democrat for voting against President Biden’s landmark infrastructure bill and a bipartisan agreement to avert a debt crisis.
Mr. Bowman and his allies spent the final weeks of the race trying to discredit AIPAC. It culminated Saturday in a rally in the South Bronx, miles from Mr. Bowman’s district, in which he blasted AIPAC, calling it a racist Republican front sabotaging progress. democratic process. Super PACs receive significant funding from Republican donors.
In reality, however, even some of Mr. Bowman’s allies admit that his campaign was in trouble long before the party got involved, plagued by unforced errors, upsets human resources and strategic mistakes.
The biggest incident occurred last fall when Mr. Bowman rushed to the Capitol, Pull the fire alarm. He later apologized, but he was charged with a misdemeanor and the timing, just a week before October 7, could hardly have been worse.
Opposition researchers have turned to old blog posts researching the 9/11 conspiracy theory and released a video of Mr. Bowman calling reports that Hamas sexually abused Israeli women during its attacks “propaganda.” (He later apologized.)
Relatively few Democrats in the district came to his defense. Some explained that in their four years in office, the congressman rarely showed any interest in getting to know their community.
Mr. Latimer campaigned as the stylistic and ideological opposite of Mr. Bowman. He favors simple campaign stops at train stations and senior centers. He emphasized the need to cooperate with Republicans, although the bitterness of his criticism of Mr. Bowman, calling him a social media star-chasing exhibitionist, has turned some supporters surprised.
Mr. Latimer was constantly in trouble by use of language which his opponents call racial baiting. He alleged that Mr. Bowman had never “mentioned people who were not black or brown” and then accused him of trying to “play ethnic games.”
He also refused to answer questions about Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza or criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, effectively taking a stance favorable to his party.
However, his supporters don’t seem to mind.
“Everyone is imperfect, but what I like most about him is that he reveals the truth,” said Mercedes Humphry, a black retiree from Yonkers, Mr. Bowman’s hometown. “You can feel that he cares about you.”
Report contributed by Colonel Shayla, Claire Fahy, Molly Longman And Bernard Mokam.
