New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman is facing his most significant opponent since defeating long-time Democrat representative Eliot Engel in 2020.
The progressive politician will challenge Westchester County Executive George Latimer later this year in the state's Democratic primary. As a 70-year-old lawmaker who has never lost an election during his three decades in public office, Latimer's entrance into the race is symbolic of whether seasoned Democratic moderates can blunt the rising popularity of anti-Israel progressives, whose foothold and influence intensifies with each passing election.
The 16th congressional district comprises a mix of urban communities within the Bronx and affluent liberal enclaves in Westchester County. With Democrats outnumbering Republicans by an approximately 4-to-1 margin, Bowman captured over 63% of the vote against his Republican opponent in the 2022 Congressional election.
As Latimer attempts to anchor the district to its moderate roots, he may first have to contend with a redrawn district map, whose final lines are crucial in determining whether the area's city landscape swells to the point of placing Latimer at a political disadvantage.
Bowman's outspoken targeting of Israel, which includes falsely accusing the Jewish state of engaging in "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" as it continues to battle Hamas terrorists, has earned him a coveted space among the Democrat's far-left faction, known as "The Squad." While previously, some in the Jewish community excused Bowman's troubling rhetoric and backed his candidacy, issues involving foreign policy and antisemitism are trending to the top of the policy list for a growing cohort of Jews in the district.
With the Jewish population hovering around 10% of the area's electorate, Bowman's hostility towards Israel, coupled with antics designed to elevate his national exposure rather than address constituent concerns, places Latimer in a far more formidable position than in the past to unseat the state's two-term representative.
While campaigning on a message of a career "spent delivering progressive results," Latimer struck a centrist note at a fundraising event held in Westchester County last month. The county executive spoke about his Irish-Italian roots and how time spent in the state legislature helped prepare him for this political moment.
Having recently returned from Israel, Latimer referenced his support for the Jewish country as it fights Hamas and underscored his resistance to pressing for a cease-fire at this time.
The attendees, comprised mainly of concerned Jewish constituents, were also encouraged by Latimer's insistence that achieving results for the district requires a willingness to work within the confines of his caucus rather than displaying displeasure through public pronouncement, a tool used by Bowman late last year as he denounced President Joe Biden, in front of the White House, over his handling of developments in Israel.
The October 7 terrorist assaults against Israel are galvanizing the largely liberal pro-Israel community to respond more meaningfully to Bowman's attacks against the Jewish state.
Over the last several years, Bowman has grown more provocative and is an established leader among the cadre of antisemitic lawmakers. Helping amplify Bowman's damaging stance are Jewish Democrats whose efforts to boost Latimer's prospects consist of encouraging conservatives to switch party allegiance and participate in the closed Democratic primary.
With some Republicans opting to support Latimer financially without changing affiliation, others are expressing interest in a temporary shift to offset the progressive vote. While such tactics may offer short-term success, relying on conservatives to blunt the Democrats' leftward lurch does little to reconcile why, for years, liberals granted progressives a political platform from which to spew their dangerous positions.
Bowman's embrace of a far-left ethos appeals to some in a district that is almost 50% Black and Latino and for whom issues such as Israel or thwarting antisemitism are of scant concern. Studies conducted in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre reveal deep generational divisions concerning Democrat attitudes towards Israel.
A Wall Street Journal poll published last month found only 17% of Democrats surveyed sympathize more with the Israeli people than they do with Palestinians. What's more, sympathies among Democrats "under the age of 50" remain firmly attached to Palestinians by a margin of "35 percent to 13 percent."
One indication detailing the party's psyche surrounds the willingness of liberal leaders to begin pivoting from its left-wing actors. Referring to the congressman as his "friend and partner," Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., endorsed Bowman last election and is listed as a supporter this cycle on the lawmaker's campaign website.
For his part, Democrat House Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who defended Bowman during December's censure vote, also affirmed, through his spokesman, that he "plans to stand behind every single Democratic member of the New York congressional delegation."
With that said, given the geostrategic realities involving the Middle East and domestic unrest, Jeffries may temper sanctioning Bowman by refusing to openly oppose Latimer's candidacy. Last month, The New York Times reported that Latimer had not received a call from Jeffries requesting that he not run and that the "House leader may soon have to decide how hard to fight to protect Mr. Bowman."
The primary race between Rep. Bowman and Latimer is emblematic of the struggle facing the Democratic Party as it navigates deepening divisions between a younger strain of activists and seasoned party operatives, whose weakening influence is in part due to misguided placations of lawmakers like Bowman. The coming months will illustrate the lengths liberals will go to divorce Democrats from antisemitism.
This year’s primary is a reckoning of how untangling years of ambivalence concerning preserving principled positions and attempting to rewire a tolerance for unsavory politicians is costly to constituents and the country.
Irit Tratt is an independent writer residing in New York. She obtained her Masters in International Affairs with a focus on the Mideast from George Washington University. She has worked as a legislative assistant for several members of Congress. She maintains her advocacy work through her involvement with organizations such as The Tikvah Fund, The Republican Jewish Coalition, and The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). Irit is a steering committee member on the Board of Fellows at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA). Ms. Tratt has been published in The Jerusalem Post, The American Spectator, The Algemeiner, JNS, and Israel Hayom. Read More of Irit Tratt's Reports — Here.
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