In the most expensive House primary race in history, incumbent New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman lost the Democratic primary in New York’s 16th Congressional District. Bowman lost Tuesday to George Latimer, a moderate, pro-Israel county executive from Westchester, New York.
Bowman concedes
As of Wednesday afternoon, with 88.4% of the expected vote in, Latimer had 58.4% of the vote to Bowman’s 41.6%.
Conceding defeat to a roomful of supporters on Tuesday night at the Grand Roosevelt Ballroom in Yonkers, Bowman, a member of the “Squad,” said he would continue to fight for “humanity and justice.”
“This race was never about me and me alone. It was never about this district and this district alone. It was always about all of us,” Bowman said, per CNN. “Now, our opponents — not opponent — may have won this round, at this time, in this place. But this will be a battle for our humanity and justice for the rest of our lives.”
After his victory, Latimer told a group of supporters, “Tonight we turn a page and we say we believe in inclusion of everybody in our representation — that you are included no matter what your demographic is.”
Controversy and contention
The race between Bowman and Latimer had a fair share of controversy and contention.
Bowman came into the race facing a misdemeanor for falsely triggering a fire alarm in a House office building in October of last year, per CNN.
He has also faced scrutiny for his stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict. Bowman has accused Israel of genocide and questioned the Biden administration’s support for Israel, per BBC. He also told a small gathering of pro-Palestinian protesters he though reports of sexual violence by Hamas were propaganda, though he later apologized for those comments.
During the race, Latimer, who entered the race after being prompted by pro-Israel groups, was in turn criticized for saying Bowman’s “constituency is Dearborn, Michigan,” a heavily Arab suburb of Detroit, and that he had a “an obvious ethnic benefit,” per CNN.
First member of the ‘Squad’ out
As Jesse McKinley and Nicholas Fandos note in an article for The New York Times, Bowman’s loss marks him as the first member of the House’s noted Democratic “Squad” to be beaten. The “Squad” includes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and others.
But per McKinley and Fandos, Bowman isn’t the only member of the “Squad” in danger of being ousted. Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., could also lose. “Rep. Cori Bush, is in danger of losing an August primary,” McKinley and Fandos write, “where many of the same outside forces that helped defeat Mr. Bowman are already at play.”
Most expensive House primary ever
According to Politico, the House race between Bowman and Latimer was the most expensive in history. Their campaigns together drew in $25 million worth of ad spending.
According to NBC News, almost $15 million of that came from United Democracy Project, a super PAC with links to the pro-Israel lobby group American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which chose to back Latimer.