Former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is backing a primary challenger seeking to unseat Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman in New York this month.
The competition In a race in which Bowman’s criticism of Israel played a key role in his war with Hamas, Bowman, a progressive incumbent, faces George Latimer, a popular state official.
“With Trump on the ballot, we need strong, principled Democrats in Congress more than ever,” said Clinton, who nominated Latimer. In an article on X as someone who will “protect abortion rights, stand up to the NRA, and fight for President Biden’s agenda.”
Clinton, a longtime New Yorker who represents the state in the US Senate, has a home in one of the neighboring districts.
Bowman — a black progressive member of a self-described “caucus” of young lawmakers who have won seats in the House the past six years — and Latimer, 70, the Westchester County executive, exposed deep divisions in the Democratic Party and fueled intrigue ahead of this month’s election.
Bowman has won the support of Democratic “caucus” members, including fellow New York House representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as New York Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other members of the Democratic leadership who typically support incumbents.
But Latimer also has high-profile allies, including several former lawmakers and Democratic former Gov. David Paterson.
And Latimer also got a big boost from the United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a strong pro-Israel advocacy group that reportedly spent about $10 million on ads in the region. -tracking firm AdImpact. That’s the vast majority of the $13 million in AdImpact recorded in the district.
Many of these ads accuse Bowman of being too radical vote against Biden’s priorities or sound as follows with Latimerprogressive results“While he was in the government.
Debates over Bowman’s stance on UDP support and Israel’s war with Hamas have drawn attention to the race. However, this is far from the only difference between the two MPs.
Bowman tried to portray himself as a politician of the people by portraying Latimer’s support from the UDP as the work of wealthy outsiders seeking to influence the election. (Because the group has received significant contributions from donors who have supported GOP candidates in the past, Bowman also credited the support as Republican.)
But Latimer’s supporters accused Bowman of anti-Semitism, and Latimer blamed Bowman for chasing “glory” rather than securing voters.
Bowman also received national news attention last year when Congress set off the fire alarm while voting on a GOP government spending bill. He claimed it was an accident, but he pleaded guilty to falsely activating the fire alarm and The House condemned him according to his behavior.