Jamaal Bowman Hopes To Stave Off Revolt in Suburban New York District With Profane Rant Against Israel Lobby

Voters in several states will choose their nominees for congressional districts on Tuesday, the result of which could give insight into the direction of both major parties.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Representative Jamaal Bowman leaves the U.S. Capitol on May 23, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Congressman Jamaal Bowman is hoping to stave off a center-left revolt in his suburban New York district on Tuesday as voters head to the polls, potentially to punish him for his harsh anti-Israel stance and his past embrace of conspiracy theories. Voters in several other states will go to the polls to choose their own nominees. 

Mr. Bowman rallied over the weekend with America’s two most famous left-wing lawmakers, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Sanders. The two progressive icons are hoping to keep one of their most staunch allies in Congress, though he has so far trailed far behind his primary challenger, Westchester County executive George Latimer, in terms of money, polling, and powerful local endorsements. 

“We are gonna show f–ing Aipac the power of the motherf–ing south Bronx,” Mr. Bowman said Saturday, despite the fact that he represents just a small sliver of the South Bronx. The vast majority of the northernmost city borough is represented by Congressman Ritchie Torres — a staunchly pro-Israel lawmaker.

Mr. Bowman has clashed with both the Jewish state since the October 7 attack and the country’s chief advocacy group here in America, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac, which has turned the 16th district’s Democratic primary into the most expensive in history. So far, Aipac’s outside spending group — the United Democracy Project — has already poured more than $14 million into the race to attack Mr. Bowman and boost Mr. Latimer.

“My opponent supports genocide,” Mr. Bowman told the crowd on Saturday. “My opponent and Aipac are the ones destroying our democracy and it is on us, it is on all of us, to save our democracy.”

The rally was held at Saint Mary’s park in the south Bronx, which is actually located in Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s district and is nearly ten miles from the southern border of Mr. Bowman’s own constituency. “Aipac doesn’t give a damn about us! Aipac doesn’t give a damn about the Bronx!” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said when she took the stage. 

The most recent poll suggests that Mr. Bowman is trailing Mr. Latimer by 17 points just ahead of the primary election on Tuesday — 31 percent to 48 percent. The winner of the Democratic primary is almost certain to go on to win the general election in the staunchly liberal district.

In several other states, voters of both major parties will choose their congressional nominees as well. In Utah and Colorado, a number of contested races will give greater insight into what direction the GOP and the Democrats will move as the election year drags on. 

The most high-profile example is probably that of Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, who made the surprise decision last year to run in a district representing vast swaths of eastern Colorado instead of her current district that covers the western half of the state. Some speculated that she made the move for political convenience because the eastern half of the state, which is covered by the Fourth district, is much more GOP-friendly than Ms. Boebert’s current Third district in the west. She nearly lost her 2022 re-election bid despite President Trump winning the district just two years earlier. 

Ms. Boebert made the move shortly after Congressman Ken Buck announced his retirement after representing the Fourth district since 2015. 

According to recent polling, Ms. Boebert is expected to win the Republican primary in the Fourth district. Because Mr. Buck resigned from his seat citing the lack of substantive work being done in the House, a special election will be held Tuesday to fill the remainder of Mr. Buck’s term until January 2025. The Republican nominee for the special election, Greg Lopez, is expected to easily win that election. Mr. Lopez is not competing for a full term in the House and will likely only serve until January. 

To the west, Utahns will also go to the polls to choose their nominee for the United States Senate. The Republican nominee is widely expected to win the seat this year, succeeding Senator Romney, who announced his retirement in September 2023. 

Congressman John Curtis from the Third district has a large polling and fundraising lead in the race. He has represented a large portion of the eastern part of the state since 2017. 

According to the most recent poll from Deseret News and the University of Utah, Mr. Curtis leads with 36 percent of the vote among likely GOP primary voters, compared to 16 percent for the mayor of Riverton, Trent Staggs, who has the backing of many America First and Trumpworld figures, and 12 percent for a former state house speaker, Brad Wilson, who is supported by Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox.


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