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Squad Member Down: Jamaal Bowman Loses Primary to George Latimer

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  June 25, 2024 10:10 PM

On Tuesday night, just a little over 20 minutes after the polls closed in New York, Decision Desk HQ called the NY-16 Democratic primary in favor of Westchester County Executive George Latimer, dealing a serious blow to Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a member of the Squad, who has now lost his seat.

Latimer looked to be leading from the start of the vote count on Tuesday. He had also been leading in the polls leading up to the primary, including internal and non-internal ones. 

In addition to a lead in the polls, Latimer also enjoyed endorsements from high profile New York Democrats like Hillary Clinton and former Rep. Mondaire Jones, which certainly put the Squad members in disarray. Latimer also was endorsed by pro-Israel groups such as the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Especially with Bowman and the Squad overall taking such anti-Israel stance, the Israel-Hamas war in the days following the October 7 attack were often at the forefront of this primary race, the most expensive House primary race in U.S. history.

Bowman had been particularly aggressive in railing against AIPAC's role in the race, and was even prone to using antisemitic tropes when claiming the group has "full control of this district, just like they now have full control of Congress--as they fund everyone in Congress."

Bowman's campaigning was also characterized by not just going after AIPAC but also by playing the victim, as the now soon to be former congressman claimed on multiple occasions that they were attacking him because he was a black man.

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As Latimer brought up during a debate with Bowman, AIPAC also supports black Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), but Bowman wasn't having it. 

Bowman responded that "just because you’ve got a few black friends doesn’t make you an anti-racist organization," which seems to be painting not just AIPAC but also Republicans as racist. 

It's particularly rich that Bowman would use the "black friends" narrative when it was recently revealed by Jewish Insider that he asked a local Jewish leader in 2022 for pictures of the two of them so he could "show the world I’m friends with Jewish People."

Still another complaint that Bowman has had against AIPAC is that they dare to support both Republicans and Democrats who are pro-Israel. Although it was a talking point that Bowman repeated at length through his campaign, it certainly doesn't look to have paid off. 

That text from 2022 isn't the only part of Bowman's past to come back to haunt him. In late March, comments of his at an event from last November surfaced in which he called it a "lie" and "propaganda" to say that Israeli women had been raped by Hamas on October 7. He made such claims despite how there were already reports and testimonies of such atrocities taking place at the time Bowman made these claims. He's since apologized, including last week, though he didn't do so when initially confronted by POLITICO in March, and rather did so with a statement from his office.

In addition to his anti-Israel views, Bowman also has come under fire for his conspiracy theories, including about 9/11, with his YouTube account interacting with some particularly bizarre accounts in recent months. Many also still continue to mock the Squad member for how he pulled the fire alarm late last September when Congress was voting to avert a government shutdown, despitw how there was no fire. It's not just mere mockery, though, as many have also demanded that Bowman be held more accountable than he actually has been, which amounted to being let off easy by DC and the House Ethics Committee. 

Despite lamentations from the Squad about supposed threats to democracy, especially from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who campaigned for Bowman, this primary taking place was the democratic process in action. Further, Bowman himself came into office when he beat an incumbent in the primary from 2020, unseating thenRep. Eliot Engel in the process.

Responses have already come quickly pouring in, including from Jewish groups and individuals such as former Rep. Lee Zeldin and StopAntisemitism. 

"The anti-American, Jew-hating Squad will be short one radical member in January 2025. Democrats nationwide have been put on notice. Americans do not support the antisemitic, pro-criminal, high-tax, open border, and anti-business policies championed by the likes of Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Jamaal Bowman," said Zeldin in a statement. "Our nation will be stronger with a Congress no longer disgraced by his presence."

StopAntisemitism also posted a reminder that another Squad member, Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), is also facing a primary challenger, DA Wesley Bell. Bush, who similarly has anti-Israel sentiments and has also ranted and raved against AIPAC, is likewise performing poorly in the polls and looks likely to lose her primary in August.

With an estimated 71 percent of the vote reporting, Latimer has 55.8 percent of the vote to Bowman's 44.2 percent of the vote.