MANHATTAN (CN) — Westchester County Executive George Latimer, a pro-Israel centrist Democrat defeated incumbent Congressman Jamaal Bowman on Tuesday in the Democratic primary election for the New York’s 16th Congressional district, which includes the northern Bronx and parts of Westchester County.
Bowman, one of the most liberal members of Congress, campaigned for a third term against a strong Democratic primary challenge Tuesday from the more moderate Latimer in a New York race that has put a spotlight on the party’s divides over the Israel-Hamas war.
His defeat is a blow to the party’s progressive faction and a potential cautionary tale for other Democrat candidates trying to orient their campaigns around the issue of U.S. aid to Israel.
Bowman, who is Black, faced public backlash for his open criticism of Israel’s military response in the war with Hamas, condemning what he has called the “slaughter of civilians” in Gaza.
Latimer, who is white and grew up in Mount Vernon, New York, endorsed Biden’s call for an immediate cease-fire of at least six weeks. He has also received backing from an offshoot of American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the most prominent pro-Israel group in American politics, which spent nearly $15 million against Bowman through its super PAC, United Democracy Project.
Election night results showed that Latimer won more votes in the Westchester County portion of the district, which accounts for about 90% of the district’s population, while Bowman did better with voters in the Bronx.
Latimer urged inclusivity and unity during a victory speech in White Plains on Tuesday night.
“We have to look at the arguments on the far-right and the far-left and say you can not destroy this country with your rhetoric and your arguments,” he said. “We have to have unity all across that continuum. And if you hold a strong belief, you still must work with other people who don’t share that belief because America hangs in the balance.”
Bowman conceded the race on at event at the Grand Roosevelt Ballroom in Yonkers.
“Our opponents … 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,” he said.
New York has one of the largest concentrations of Republican lawmakers sitting in districts that Biden won in 2020, otherwise referred to as crossover districts. Of New York’s 26 congressional seats, seven are considered competitive and the results of the primaries could shape whether Democrats can gain a majority in the House.
Polls in New York closed at 9 p.m. on Tuesday.
Bowman, 48, had framed the race as a contest between billionaire establishment donors and average working-class voters.
“This race has gotten national attention because — because — it is the ultimate ‘many versus the money’ race,” he said Monday. “And we are the many.”
Latimer, 70, criticized Bowman’s views on the Israel-Hamas war, suggesting that Bowman fails to acknowledge the impact of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
“What the congressman fails to mention in all of this is the role that Hamas has played,” Latimer said during a debate earlier this month. “It’s not merely a simple condemnation of what they did. What they did that day on Oct. 7 triggered everything that has followed afterward.”
Bowman, a former middle school principal, won the seat in 2020, in an upset over 16-term incumbent Elliot Engel, joining a wave of progressive Democratic freshman lawmakers dubbed “The Squad”.
The coalition of progressive Democrats included Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley.
Last fall, Bowman was charged with a misdemeanor for pulling a fire alarm in a Capitol office building as lawmakers scrambled to pass a funding bill before a government shutdown deadline in September. House Republicans voted 214-191to censure him over the incident.
Last weekend, Bowman rallied in the South Bronx with Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders, while Latimer cinched the endorsement of former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Ocasio-Cortez fended off her own challenge on Tuesday for New York’s 14th Congressional District from 66-year-old investment banker Marty Dolan, winning 80% the votes of the 23,000 cast in her district.
In another primary, two Democrats are competing to unseat incumbent Republican Representative Nick La Lota in New York’s 1st Congressional District, which Republicans have held for nearly a decade.
In the race for the eastern portion of Long Island, including most of Suffolk County, John Avlon, a former CNN political commentator who helped found the centrist political group No Labels, won New York’s 1st Congressional District against Nancy Goroff, a professor emeritus of chemistry at Stony Brook University.
Despite Republicans’ hold on the seat, both Democratic candidates contend it is up for grabs. The Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC wrote in a February memo that while the district has a “slight tilt towards Republicans,” it remains “one of the most competitive districts in the country.”
New York Democrats hope favorable redistricting will help them unseat incumbent Representative Brandon Williams in the Syracuse-area swing seat of Congressional District 22.
John Mannion, a state senator who represents the area in Albany, won the Democratic primary for Congressional District 22. on Tuesday with 61.41% of the vote against 37.84% for Sarah Klee Hood, an Air Force veteran.
Nationally, Democratic Party leaders have emphasized moving toward centrist candidates who might fare better in suburban races.