WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The resounding defeat of Rep. Jamaal Bowman in a Democratic primary ousted the first “Squad” member from Congress and shook up the far-left’s grip on the party.
The two-term incumbent’s loss to an old-school-style New York politician, Westchester County Executive George Latimer, by a crushing 17-point margin. His humiliating defeat showcased Democrats’ recoil from the far left after it embraced anti-Israel rhetoric after Hamas’ ruthless terrorist attack against the Jewish state on Oct. 7.
“I supported Congressman Bowman multiple times, but I felt that rhetoric was overtaking results,” Dan Adler, a Democratic leader from the town of Rye in the district.
Mr. Latimer, a long-time former state legislator, is now seen as the prohibitive favorite to win the general election in New York’s reliably blue 16th Congressional District, composed of the lower Westchester suburbs and parts of the north Bronx.
His insurgent campaign against Mr. Bowman was fueled in part by massive spending by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel PAC. It spent $15 million, more than any outside organization, for a House race and helped make it the most expensive primary contest in the U.S. this year.
The outcome was a cautionary tale for Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, a fellow member of Congress’ far-left Squad who will face a formidable AIPAC-funded opponent in her state’s Democratic primary in August.
Mr. Bowman’s loss puts a dent in the far-left’s anti-Israel stance ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s July 24 address to Congress, which some Democrats plan to boycott.
More immediately, it sends a hot warning to President Biden who has struggled to balance the party’s traditional support for Israel and the leftwing’s increasingly pro-Palestinian fervor.
The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is bound to come up, perhaps a reference to Mr. Bowman’s massive loss, when Mr. Biden faces former President Donald Trump on the debate stage Thursday in Atlanta.
The party’s split over Israel took center stage in the 16th District when Mr. Bowman emerged as an outspoken critic of the war in Gaza, declaring it “genocide” and routinely demanding Israel unilaterally agree to a cease-fire.
Mr. Bowman’s political troubles, however, started before he became a leading critic of Israel, Mr. Netanyahu and AIPAC.
Known for his loud theatrics off the House floor, Mr. Bowman pulled a fire alarm in a U.S. Capitol office building in September — a false alarm that delayed a critical spending vote that House Democrats wanted to delay.
He previously endorsed 9/11 conspiracy theories and recently said reports of Hamas terrorists raping Israelis on Oct. 7 were “propaganda,” though he walked back all of those claims.
Voters also told The Washington Times that Mr. Bowman was more concerned about trumpeting national progressive issues such as the war in Gaza to get on TV coverage, as opposed to addressing constituents’ issues.
Mr. Bowman, a former middle school teacher, first sprang onto the political scene in 2020 in an upset primary win against a veteran lawmaker he accused of being out of touch with the district.
He was seen as a rising star, joining other new progressive voices in Congress. He won in a year when New York Democrats came out in force following the summer’s Black Lives Matter riots.
In this election cycle, however, Mr. Bowman’s fortunes began to spiral downward as he was seen as sympathetic towards antisemites and increasingly out of favor with mainstream voters.
He attempted a last-minute effort to save his campaign by asking fellow Squad member and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York and far-left icon Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont to help him on the stump.
The plan, though, took him to a South Bronx rally miles outside of his district where he engaged in a profanity-laced tirade against AIPAC.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.