Rep. Bowman Loses Primary Race to Moderate Latimer

In the New York primary battle, the Gaza war took center stage.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) greets campaign volunteers as he arrives for a "Get Out the Vote" campaign event at Hartley Park in Mount Vernon, N.Y., on June 24, 2024. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

NEW YORK CITY—Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) has lost a primary battle to Westchester County Executive George Latimer, becoming the first member of the far-left “Squad” to be unseated by a centrist Democrat.

Mr. Latimer leads Mr. Bowman 58.4 percent to 41.6 percentage points, with 88 percent reporting. The Associated Press called the race at 9:38 p.m ET.

The two-term congressman is also the first Democratic incumbent to lose their primary this year, capping off a contest that laid bare divisions within the Democratic party that have ruptured over the Israel-Hamas war.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a major pro-Israel group, emerges as another winner from the race after it poured $14 million in ads to boost Mr. Latimer, helping to make this primary the most expensive House race ever, according to ad tracker AdImpact.

Mr. Latimer said he was proud to be the Democratic nominee for the district and called on the party to unite behind him.

“While this race garnered a lot of headlines, tomorrow we turn a new page. We must come together, united to defend our Democratic values from MAGA extremism,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Mr. Bowman’s District 16, which covers the northern Bronx and Westchester County, is solidly blue, so Mr. Latimer is likely to win the seat in November.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer speaks to supporters after winning his race against Democratic incumbent Rep. Jamaal Bowman in the 16th Congressional District of New York's Democratic primary. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Bowman’s Two Terms

In 2020, Mr. Bowman unseated longtime incumbent Democrat Rep. Eliot Engel in the primary and then easily crushed his Republican challenger in the fall general election. Mr. Bowman won a second term in 2022, during which he consolidated his reputation as one of the most outspokenly progressive members of the Squad, with a message of antiracism, social justice, and economic equity.

In the race that just concluded, he enjoyed the endorsement of fellow Squad members such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Rep. Cori Bush (R-Mo.), along with powerful Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma.).

Mr. Bowman has courted controversy over his staunch pro-Palestinian stance, and by calling accounts of the sexual abuse of Israeli hostages “propaganda,” for which he later apologized.

Last year, he also pulled a fire alarm inside a congressional building during a House vote, for which he pled guilty to misdemeanor charges. He maintains it was an accident.

Middle East in Focus

The congressman’s defeat is consistent with predictions in the run-up to the June 25 election from pollsters, as well as establishment Democrats.

FiveThirtyEight polls gave Mr. Latimer double-digit leads, while prominent Democrats, ranging from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to former state Gov. Andrew Cuomo, had signaled their support for the challenger, who enjoys a reputation of being more in touch with the mainstream sentiment on the Gaza conflict and support for Israel’s war on Hamas.

“The message is clear: antisemitism in any and all forms will not be tolerated in New York. And you can’t call yourself a progressive without making progress,” Mr. Cuomo wrote in a post on X on the morning of June 25, predicting Mr. Bowman’s defeat.

David Carlucci, a former New York state senator who ran in the District 17 primary, north of District 16, in 2020, and who worked for Mr. Engel two decades ago, acknowledged that many voters in Tuesday’s election considered first and foremost where the two candidates stood on Middle East policy.

“The contrast between Latimer’s pro-Israel stance and Bowman’s more critical perspective on U.S.-Israel relations has sharpened the divide among voters with strong opinions on this issue, and has been front and center in this race,” Mr. Carlucci told The Epoch Times.

At the same time, some voters made choices based on Rep. Bowman’s and Mr. Latimer’s respective positions on such issues as criminal justice reform, policing and public safety, climate action, and environmental sustainability, Mr. Carlucci said.

Hence, while the Middle East loomed large in this race, many voters’ decisions signify a wide schism between the radical and centrist factions of the Democratic Party, a divide that could grow still further in the months and years to come, he observed.

“This race could reflect broader national trends within the Democratic Party, regarding its diverse opinions and large tent,” he said.