Gaza War Dominates Bowman-Latimer Congressional Race

In a hotly contested Democratic primary, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a two-term incumbent representing New York’s 16th Congressional District, is facing a stiff challenge from George Latimer, the Westchester County Executive. On Monday, May 13, sparks flew as the candidates debated each other, with sharp exchanges on the war in Gaza, fighting crime and their approaches to government. Although both politicians performed well overall, Bowman lost his temper a couple of times, and he even shouted. Latimer remained calm and landed some serious blows.

The outcome of this race may have national implications, because it pits a highly progressive Democrat against a centrist and the candidates’ stands on the Israel-Gaza conflict are the major issue in the race. Several other Democratic members of Congress in the New York City metro area are progressives. However, in February Tom Suozzi, another centrist Democrat, defeated a Republican in a special election to take over the remainder of former Representative George Santos’ term in Nassau County on Long Island.

Pro-Palestinian Progressive vs. Pro-Israel Centrist

Bowman is a member of “The Squad”, the ultra-progressive Democratic group in Congress led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Bowman was also a member of the far-left Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) until 2022, when he voted to approve additional funding for Israel’s Iron Dome System. Many DSA members opposed that funding and criticized Bowman’s vote, which led him to leave the group. Despite that vote, Bowman has been very outspoken on behalf of Palestinians and critical of Israeli policy toward them, a stance which has alienated many Jewish voters in his district.

By contrast, Latimer is strongly pro-Israel. Latimer is also a longtime member of the Democratic establishment, having served for decades in the New York legislature before becoming County Executive in 2018. The American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC), which seeks to unseat Bowman, has contributed significant funding to Latimer’s campaign. Bowman has tried to make this funding a major issue in the campaign.

In addition, Bowman is Black and 48 years old, while Latimer is white, Irish-Italian and 70.

A Diverse County with a Significant Jewish Population

New York’s 16th Congressional District includes the southern half of Westchester County and a small section of the north Bronx. About 25% of the electorate may be Jewish, according to the New York Times, so the question of support for Israel vs. Gaza looms large in this race. However, about 50% of Westchester residents are Black or Latino.

Westchester is very diverse economically as well. The county is famous for its wealthy suburbs such as Scarsdale and Rye, but many inhabitants of challenged cities like Mount Vernon and Yonkers are low-income.

Sharply Different Perspectives on Gaza

Bowman and Latimer hold very different views on the conflict in Gaza, although they both back a two-state solution. Bowman seems keenly aware that he needs to court Jewish voters, and he has modified his language on Israel. The Congressman mentioned during the debate that he had visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial on a trip to Israel.

That was damage control. Shortly after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Bowman dismissed accounts of Israeli women being raped as a “lie” and “propaganda”. He has walked back those comments, but they have undoubtedly hurt his standing with many voters.

On the podium Bowman stressed the high number of Palestinians, “mostly women and children,” who have been killed and said, “we have to stop this”. Bowman called for an immediate and permanent cease-fire and added that “Netanyahu has to go”. However, Bowman emphasized that Israel had a right to exist and Hamas must be destroyed. Still, it’s not clear how the Congressman thinks Hamas could be eliminated if a permanent cease-fire took effect.

Latimer did not call for a cease-fire. Instead, Latimer stressed that Israel needed a reasonable partner to establish a two-state solution…with the clear implication that no such partner existed yet. Furthermore, Latimer ducked the question of whether a viable peace could be achieved if Prime Minister Netanyahu remained in office. That was surprising, since about 70% of Israeli voters want Netanyahu to leave public life, according to polls.

Latimer is A Tough Target

George Latimer is well-known in Westchester; he has been a highly visible figure on the political scene for three decades. Latimer is a classic Irish pol who shows up at virtually every local event and has a keen grasp of the issues. Latimer represented his districts ably as an Assemblyman and State Senator, and he has compiled a good track record as County Executive. He is progressive in his views, though more moderate than Bowman.

In any event, Latimer is a tough target for Bowman to attack. That is particularly the case because Bowman has not accomplished much in Congress, and he has made some blunders. To be fair, it takes time for junior members of the House to develop relationships and acquire influence. But Bowman has sabotaged himself in several ways.

Bowman voted against the Infrastructure Act, which was one of the key priorities for President Biden and the Democratic House leadership. The Congressman voted against the first aid package for Ukraine, too. It may be admirable to vote one’s conscience, but that is not how a first-term Representative makes powerful friends in Congress.

*Westchester County Executive George Latimer/Getty Images*

Bowman Is Still an Activist, not a Legislator

The main problem is that Bowman has not mentally made the transition from being an activist to serving as a legislator. As Latimer emphasized several times during the debate, Bowman has focused more on giving fiery press conferences on the steps of Congress than working on legislation.

In the most infamous example of this tendency, Bowman tried to stop a vote in the House by triggering a fire alarm. Even worse, Bowman claimed that the incident was an accident. However, video cameras showed the Congressman deliberately pulling the lever on the alarm. Bowman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge, and the House censured Bowman for his disruptive act.

Bowman inadvertently displayed his activist leanings during a grandiose moment in the debate. When Latimer criticized Bowman for indulging in rhetoric rather than getting laws passed, the Congressman referred to the inspirational speeches of Martin Luther King and Sojourner Truth and the impact they had had on public opinion, implying that he was playing a similar role. But those two towering figures were activists; they were not members of Congress.

The AIPAC Bogeyman

Perhaps in desperation, Bowman has taken the low road and launched a smear campaign against Latimer. Bowman has carpet-bombed Westchester with flyers claiming that “MAGA extremists” are funding Latimer, and that was a recurring theme during the debate. In his opening statement, Bowman accused Latimer of “being bought and paid for by AIPAC” and working with MAGA Republicans. Later in the debate, the Congressman attacked AIPAC donors as right-wing MAGA fanatics who oppose abortion rights. Bowman was clearly implying that Latimer was also anti-abortion.

However, Latimer parried the attacks easily, noting that AIPAC funded several New York City Democrats such as Hakeem Jeffries, Richie Torres, and others. Latimer stressed that AIPAC focused on just one issue, Israel’s security, and attracted donations from a wide range of donors. Latimer emphasized that he had always supported abortion rights and had signed an abortion access law as County Executive.

Bowman then implied that Latimer did not support gun controls. Latimer shot back that in one of his first acts as County Executive he had shut down a gun show that his predecessor, who was a MAGA Republican, had allowed to operate in Westchester.

In this observer’s opinion, these attacks backfired on Bowman and called into question his honesty.

An Ugly Moment

After rebutting Bowman on those two issues, Latimer said, “This is the difference between being vocal and local”, referring to Bowman’s practice of giving press conferences on the steps of Congress. Bowman played the race card, shouting, “the angry Black man, the strategy in the south, has now come north!”. That was an ugly moment. Latimer’s comment concerned Bowman’s penchant for seizing the microphone and did not have any racial overtones.

The $1 Billion Question

Bowman bragged during the debate about “bringing $1 billion to the district” [in Federal funds for projects]. Politicians tend to exaggerate their achievements, of course, but this claim looks like a whopper. Latimer noted that Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader who represents part of Brooklyn, has not made similar claims, even though he is much more powerful than Bowman.

Still, this was a missed opportunity for Latimer. Bowman probably is taking credit for funds allocated under President Biden’s Infrastructure Act. Latimer should have highlighted that Bowman voted against that law.

Immigration and Crime

On another hot-button issue in New York, immigration, both candidates espoused similar positions. In essence, they welcomed immigrants rather than demonizing them, while acknowledging that border controls must be tightened.

However, they outlined sharply divergent views on combatting crime. Bowman stressed the need to address the poverty and mental-health issues that have caused a rise in crime in the New York City metro area. Latimer emphasized the need to fund police forces adequately to reduce crime…and that he pointed out that Bowman had not mentioned the police in his response.

Score another point for Latimer. Bowman may be out of step with most voters’ sentiment on this key issue.

Another Ugly Moment

In his closing statement, Latimer talked about growing up in a blue-collar neighborhood in Mount Vernon, where many of his friends were Black or Latino. Latimer spoke of the sacrifices his parents made so he and his sister could go to college and the success that several of his childhood friends had achieved. “This is a universal American story”, he concluded, on an upbeat note.

But Bowman again repeated the nonsense about AIPAC, MAGA Republicans and Latimer being closely linked. Bowman sounded harsh.

When the debate concluded, the Congressman left the podium without shaking hands with Latimer.

[Disclosure: the author has donated to the Latimer campaign.]

The Wall Street Democrat