George Latimer toppled progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman Tuesday in a heated NY-16 Democratic primary that focused largely on the incumbent’s progressive views and harsh criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza.
The Westchester County Executive parlayed his deep roots in the district and a torrent of pro-Israel spending to unseat the progressive incumbent, who turned off some with his flamboyant antics.
Latimer sought to strike a conciliatory note in a victory speech to cheering supporters in White Plains.
“Tonight we turn a page and we say we believe in inclusion of everybody in our representation,” he said. “We have to look at the arguments of the far right and the far left and say you cannot destroy this country with your rhetoric and your arguments.
“We’re bound together by a common future — so we work on those problems together,” he added.
Bowman insisted that his fight for progressive values was not over, decrying the Israeli war in Gaza and comparing the killing of Palestinian children to “the killing and bombing of babies in the Bronx or Mount Vernon.”
“We should not be well adjusted to a sick society,” he told supporters. “We should be outraged.”
With more than 70% of the votes counted, Latimer was leading Bowman by a 56%-44% margin. But nearly all of the outstanding ballots were in Westchester County, where Latimer was racking up more than 60% of the votes, meaning his victory margin was likely to grow.
Latimer now becomes the prohibitive favorite to win the deep-blue district, which also includes a small section of the Bronx, over a little-known Republican opponent in the November general election.
Bowman became the first incumbent congressman in either party to lose his seat in a primary this year.
Even in defeat, he made it clear that his political career is far from over, noting that he has time to plan a comeback race in 2026, either against Latimer or in another district. He smiled at a reporter’s suggestion he could take on fellow Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres.
“There are a lot of other seats to run for, you know what I’m saying? A lot of other seats,” he told the crowd. “I’m still a damn good candidate.”
At Bowman’s watch party in Yonkers, a crowd of more than 150 supporters, some of them wearing keffiyahs, gathered glumly as the results rolled in.
Janine Melillo, 58, a teacher in Westchester County and life-long Democrat, called Latimer a “hit man sent by the right” wing and slammed the party for not backing Bowman.
“If this continues, this kind of behavior on the part of the Democrats, I will not be a registered Democrat anymore, I will go to the Working Families Party. I’ve had enough of this,” Melillo said.
Latimer’s win amounted to a powerful endorsem*nt of his support for Israel and his moderate politics and a big setback for Bowman’s outspoken leftist style, especially in a moderate suburban district.
Latimer launched his challenge to Bowman, the first Black lawmaker to represent the district, in December as Bowman emerged as one of the leading congressional critics of Israel’s war.
With longstanding strong support in Westchester’s large Jewish community, Latimer called out Bowman and fellow progressives for what he called antisemitic opposition to Israel and downplaying the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks.
The race quickly exploded into a costly referendum on the politics of Israel, with pro-Israel donors and the right-wing America Israel Political Affairs Committee pouring millions into the effort to defeat Bowman. They have also funded potent challenges to Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota)
The Bowman-Latimer fight also turned into a proxy war between moderate and progressive Democratic factions, with Latimer touting himself as a stronger and more reliable ally of President Biden, whom Bowman has occasionally criticized.
In the end, AIPAC spent a record $14.5 million on television ads and polls showed Latimer building a significant lead in recent months.
Bowman, 48, raised big bucks of his own from progressive donors and had the enthusiastic support of the left-leaning Working Families Party.
He hit back hard with raucous election week rallies featuring progressive icons like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria-Ocasio-Cortez.
But by then the die was cast, with Latimer’s long record in the district trumping Bowman’s energy.
The defeat ends a four-year stint in Washington for Bowman, a former Bronx middle school principal who won the seat by beating longtime incumbent Rep. Eliot Engel in a contentious 2020 primary.
Bowman also won headlines for some of the wrong reasons, like when he pulled a fire alarm on Capitol Hill during a closely contested vote last summer. He wound up having to plead guilty to a misdemeanor.
Latimer, 70, on the other hand, has built a career as the steady face of local Democratic politics in Westchester County.
A former state lawmaker, he won the county executive post in 2018, riding an ongoing blue wave that has turned the onetime swing county into a Democratic stronghold.
