Representative Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.) lost his third-term primary bid to Westchester County executive George Latimer on Tuesday, as New York Democrats overwhelmingly rejected the “Squad” member’s hostile brand of anti-Israel radicalism.
Latimer easily bested Bowman, capturing 55 percent of the vote to Bowman’s 45 percent, with just over half of votes in. The Associated Press called the race less than an hour after polls closed.
Latimer, who spent three decades in the state legislature before being elected county executive in 2018, is now the prohibitive favorite to capture the heavily Democratic New York House seat in November. New York’s 16th congressional district, which Bowman has represented since 2021, covers parts of Westchester County and the Bronx.
The race had become a proxy battle for the internal Democratic debate between those who believe in maintaining close ties to Israel, and the passionate Left, which has been pushing for the the party to abandon support for the historical U.S. ally during its war against Hamas terrorists.
At the request of Jewish leaders, Latimer entered the race in December after Bowman had already accused Israel of carrying out “genocide” in Gaza and dismissed reports of Hamas terrorists committing rape on October 7 as “propaganda” and “lies.” The progressive lawmaker only apologized for questioning the well-documented reports of sexual violence last week.
An AIPAC-affiliated super PAC spent $14.5 million on television ads, leaflets, and phone calls to constituents highlighting Bowman’s anti-Israel remarks in the past month.
After pulling a fire alarm in the Capitol building in an apparent attempt to delay a vote, Bowman spent the waning months of the race trying to juice turn out among committed progressives in the relatively small section of the 16th district that remains in the Bronx.
Over the weekend, in an expletive-laden speech, Bowman lashed out at pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC for launching attack ads against him.
“We’re all going to show f***ing AIPAC the power of the motherf***ing South Bronx,” he shouted in front of a small crowd on Saturday. “People ask me why I’ve got a foul mouth: What am I supposed to do? You comin’ after me. You comin’ after my family. You comin’ after my children. I’m not supposed to fight back? We’re going to show them who the f*** we are.”
In a recent interview with Politico, Bowman complained that the suburban district’s Jewish community was too highly concentrated.
“There’s certain places where the Jews live and concentrate,” he said. “I’m sure they made a decision to do that for their own reasons . . . but this is why, in terms of fighting antisemitism, I always push — we’ve been separated and segregated and miseducated for so long. We need to live together, play together, go to school together, learn together, work together.”
Meanwhile, Latimer argued the incumbent hasn’t represented the district well in the last three years.
“I think he sees himself . . . as a spokesperson for a demographic and a cause. I think he sees the seat as a soapbox,” Latimer said. “He talks a lot about certain topics that are far from what I consider to be the immediate local needs of the area.”
Latimer was endorsed by former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, while Bowman received support from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) at the Bronx rally.
Latimer’s victory was expected, given Bowman’s continued criticism of Israel. An Emerson College poll conducted from June 6-8 showed Bowman trailing Latimer’s lead by 17 percentage points, with the former standing at 31 percent and the latter at 48 percent. Additionally, 45 percent of voters aligned more with Latimer’s position on the Israel-Hamas war and 29 percent aligned more with Bowman’s.