History has shown that it is almost impossible to oust a member from Congress or have a primary challenger defeat an incumbent House member. However, George Latimer has now defied all odds and shown that it is, in fact, possible to do this.
New York’s Democratic Representative Jamaal Bowman has now become the first House member of any party to be defeated by a primary challenger. He is part of a progressive group of House Democrats called the Squad and is now also the first member to be ousted from Congress from the Squad.
However, this did not come as much of a surprise to many people. The Associated Press had previously predicted that George Latimer, who was running against Bowman in the Democratic primary in New York’s 16th Congressional District, would win.
This district, located in suburban New York City, covers a small part of the New York Bronx and southern Westchester County. Bowman, who was once a middle school principal, ousted Rep Elliot Engel in the Democratic primaries about four years ago to win his seat.
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Before he lost to Bowman, Engel had been a 16-term representative. This primary has been one of the most talked about in the past few months because it previously made history as the most expensive congressional primary in the country’s history.
Therefore, all eyes were on the primaries to see who would end up victorious. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel group with pockets that run quite deep, backed Latimer during his campaign.
They spent a record $14 million on the primaries, making it the most that has ever been recorded in U.S. history. Therefore, in the war between Palestine and Israel, it is clear that Latimer supports Israel.
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On the other hand, Bowman has been very vocal about his support for Palestine. The Democrat has openly shown his support for Palestinians and is against Israel, as he believes the country is committing genocide.
Therefore, this was not just a simple battle at the primaries. It also showed the widespread division between supporters of Palestine and Israel, even among members of the same party. Bowman was also supported by popular Democratic Representatives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (popularly known as AOC) and Senator Bernie Sanders of New York and Vermont, respectively.
Sadly, this did not yield the expected results, as he still lost the primaries to Latimer. The two candidates also did not see eye to eye on many issues, and this was publicly discussed. Latimer disapproved of Bowman’s language during rallies, as he kept using curse words while making his speech.
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In response, Latimer made several comments condemning Bowman’s language, saying it was “inappropriate. Period.” Another set of obvious differences highlighted by the public were the ages of these contenders and their race.
Latimer is a white man who is older than he is in his 70s. However, Bowman is much younger at 48 and a Black man. Therefore, many see him as part of a younger, future generation of lawmakers and were sad to see him lose his primaries.
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