Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a vocal Israel critic and ‘squad’ member, loses primary

Progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., lost his primary Tuesday to a moderate challenger who was backed by pro-Israel groups, NBC News projected, following a bitter and expensive race that exposed the party’s divisions.

The race in New York’s 16th District between Bowman and Westchester County executive George Latimer drew more ad spending — $25 million, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact — than any House primary in history. Nearly $15 million of that spending came from the United Democracy Project, a super PAC linked to the powerful pro-Israel lobby American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which backed Latimer.

The 48-year-old Bowman, one of Congress’ fiercest critics of Israel, is the first incumbent Democratic lawmaker to lose a primary this election cycle and the first member of the so-called “squad” of progressive lawmakers of color to be ousted from power since the group formed after the 2018 elections.  Other squad members, including Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Summer Lee, D-Pa., have been targeted, but survived primary challenges.

A former Bronx middle school principal, Bowman stormed Washington after unseating 16-term Rep. Eliot Engel, then the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and one of the most powerful Jewish lawmakers in Congress, in 2020.

Latimer, 70, has been involved in local and state politics for more than 35 years. He first won election in New York to the Rye City Council in 1987, and would go on to win seats in the Westchester County Board of Legislators, and New York state Assembly and Senate.

As the Democratic nominee, Latimer will almost certainly be the next congressman from New York’s 16th district, a diverse area north of Manhattan that includes parts of the Bronx and south Westchester County. Joe Biden won the deep-blue district over Donald Trump by nearly 45 percentage points in 2020, according to the Daily Kos Elections.

Several prominent figures waded into the race down the final stretch. Progressive heroes including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D.N.Y. — another member of the squad — campaigned for Bowman, while Hillary Clinton, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and former Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., endorsed Latimer. 

Tuesday’s primaries will also set the matchups in a slew of competitive New York districts, which are top targets for Democrats as they look to net five seats to take control of the House this fall.