The primary race between Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and Westchester County, N.Y., Executive George Latimer tells a story.
It’s a story that will say a lot about the Democratic Party in 2024.
And it’s a story Democrats would like to see disappear four and a half months before the November election.
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The primary challenge race between Bowman and Latimer highlights the divisions in the Democratic Party. It highlights the bitterness between progressives like Bowman and mainstream Democrats like Latimer. It also highlights the fact that differences within the party have not been resolved because of differences in the party. Middle East Which is dividing the party. Bowman criticizes Israel over its war against Hamas. Latimer is outspoken in his defense of Israel.
Latimer decided to challenge Bowman after the congressman previously denied sexual violence and other atrocities by Hamas.
“There’s still no proof of beheaded children or raped women. But they still keep using that lie. Propaganda,” Bowman said in a TikTok video that went viral.
Bowman had to walk back those comments just last week during an appearance on WNYC-FM in New York.
“Immediately when United Nations After additional evidence was provided, I voted to condemn sexual violence. I apologize for my comments,” Bowman said on WNYC.
A view of Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and Westchester County, N.Y., Executive George Latimer together. (Getty Images)
The pro-Israel political action committee AIPAC pumped money into Latimer’s campaign after Bowman attacked Israel. The race became the most expensive primary in House history. Spending: $24 million combined between the candidates.
But the involvement of groups like AIPAC in the race has prompted the progressive cavalry to come to Bowman’s aid. Bowman’s surrogates didn’t focus much on his differences with Israel. Instead, they targeted the flow of cash into the race.
“This election is not about a clash of ideas. This election is about whether billionaire super PACs can buy our democracy,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
“Ever since he was elected to the Congress“He has never accepted a dime from corporate lobbyists,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said while campaigning for Bowman. “Why does he do that? Because he knows that if you take corporate money, if you take lobbyist money, you can’t put the people of Westchester first.”
Bowman put it in even more vulgar terms while campaigning over the weekend.
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“We’ll show AIPAC the power of the motherfucking South Bronx,” Bowman claimed at an expletive-laden campaign rally. Outside the district Saturday.
Latimer called such crude language “inappropriate.”
Latimer said, “I think I have a right to lose my temper. I just don’t think I have a right to swear in public.”
Bowman continued his scathing remarks to an adoring crowd in the Bronx.
“People ask me why such nasty things come out of my mouth. What should I do? You will come after me? You will come after my family? You will come after my children? Should I not respond? Should I not respond? We will show them who we are,” Bowman warned.
This is the essence of the Bowman/Latimer race. Different styles. Different approaches. Different ways of connecting with Democratic voters.
“X. For Generation X. For the Bronx. X. For Malcolm X!” Bowman thundered.
“What I’ve offered is a slogan that conveys results. Not rhetoric,” Latimer said.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) addresses a re-election rally at McCarron Park on June 21, 2024 in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. (Joey Malone/Getty Images)
And then there’s the geography of the district. Progressives are spread out in the urban areas of the northern Bronx, now represented by Bowman. The same is true of inner suburbs like Yonkers and New Rochelle. But it’s a different ballgame when you go deeper into Westchester County. It’s home to a significant pro-Israel, Jewish population. Especially in towns like Rye Brook and Mamaroneck.
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“Bowman’s support decreases as you move north in Westchester County,” says Ross Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University who has followed the race. “It really decreases dramatically when you get to places like Rye. So this is basically Latimer’s territory.”
Bowman finds himself caught in an electoral divide between progressives and activist voters aligned with Israel. That’s why the contest is a sign of the internal rift in the Democratic Party that is troubling it.
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“If Jamaal Bowman also loses, I think it will send a message that this particular wing of the Democratic Party is not popular among Democratic primary voters,” Baker said. “(The Middle East) is on the edge of the divide between progressives and liberals. And both candidates are perfect examples of what their different factions represent.”
Latimer attempts to distinguish his views from those of Bowman.
“Other members of his team have taken an active, aggressive, anti-Israel position. If there’s a path to peace, you have to bring Israel and the Arab world to a dialogue and they have to negotiate it.”
Bowman has been mired in controversy before the war in the Middle East. Last year, he was charged with criminal charges by US Capitol Police after he pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building during a vote to avert a government shutdown.
“It was a stupid decision,” Bowman said after his court appearance. “I take full responsibility for it now. I’m trying to move on. Just keep doing my job.”
Westchester County Executive and US Democratic House candidate for New York George Latimer speaks during the Glen Island Bridge public meeting at the New York Athletic Club Traverse Island in Pelham, New York, US, on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Bowman was spared from jail. But he had to pay a fine and show good behavior for a few months. The judge also asked him to write an apology to the US Capitol Police.
Former Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., who chaired the House Foreign Affairs Committee and was a prominent supporter of Israel, represented the district for three decades. But Bowman defeated Engel in the 2020 primary. That loss of Engel represents a leftward shift by Democrats and the emergence of progressives in the House Democratic caucus. Ocasio-Cortez defeated former Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., in the New York primary in 2018. Crowley was considered by many as a potential successor to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Then came other progressives. Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., also defeated former Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., in the 2020 primary.
But the war in the Middle East has begun to expose friction in the Democratic coalition. The fight over the Bowman/Latimer race is a microcosm of that. President Biden may struggle to get young voters out to the polls this fall because of the Middle East conflict. He and other Democrats may also face trouble in areas with significant Arab or Muslim populations, such as Michigan.
But the race is a litmus test for the party’s direction. Bowman’s loss could reveal differences with progressives. But a single loss could be a one-time thing. Bush, however, is on the ballot in August in a primary against St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell and former state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal. If Bowman loses, it’s a trend — possibly Bush could lose this summer, too.
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And the lesson for the Democratic Party is that there is a lot of division on their side.
