Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) won his House seat in 2020 and swiftly joined the “Squad,” a group of progressive lawmakers, vastly raising his national profile.
But incidents such as his pulling a fire alarm on his way to a vote and railing against his primary opponent as a racist have some voters rethinking their support of the fiery congressman.
One Bowman supporter who has since backed Westchester County Executive George Latimer, his rival in a fierce Democratic primary that has drawn rarely seen intraparty battle lines, put it his own way.
“It’s not that I disagree with his politics. I just don’t take him seriously,” Ryan Carter, a Mt. Vernon clerk, told the Washington Post. Carter also denied Bowman’s accusations that Latimer is racist, an attack Latimer suggested is solely because of the white versus black nature of the race.
“To say that he’s racist just because he’s running against Bowman, I need more evidence than just screaming racist,” Carter said. “He’s been a county executive. He has a record.”
Some supporters have also been alienated by Bowman’s stance on Israel. The congressman was one of the first public officials to call for a ceasefire less than two weeks after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, well ahead of many Democrats, and has been generally anti-Israel.
“After Oct. 7, I couldn’t even look [Bowman] in the face,” Danielle Tagger-Epstein, chairwoman of the Rye City Democratic Committee and a donor to Bowman and Latimer, told the HuffPost.
That’s a voter group Latimer has seized on. Latimer has been pro-Israel and has the backing of many pro-Israel groups. Some of that financial support, from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has drawn the ire of Bowman. The congressman and his allies have accused Latimer of using large donations from wealthy donors, including AIPAC, to fuel his campaign.
But while some supporters have swayed away from Bowman, he still has powerful allies. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a fellow “Squad” member, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have campaigned with him. Latimer has the support of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Bowman’s and Latimer’s supporters further illustrate the ideological divide between them: one leaning progressive and the other a more centrist alternative voters seemingly have taken seriously.
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Polling has swayed between the two candidates, but Latimer is considered the favorite in the de facto race for NY-16.
Latimer is leading Bowman by about $1.5 million in cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission data, and a June Emerson College poll showed Latimer leading Bowman by 17 points.