The bitter primary in New York\u2019s 16th District has drawn involvement from national figures like Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders \u2014 and record amounts of ad spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. \u2014 Bernie Sanders has lined up on one side of the race, Hillary Clinton on the other. A Democratic House primary in New York is in many ways a redux of the 2016 presidential primary \u2014 with much of the familiar vitriol. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tuesday\u2019s election between progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and centrist challenger George Latimer \u2014 which has attracted the most ad spending of any House primary in history \u2014 has re-exposed fault lines from that bitterly fought race eight years ago and highlighted the gaping divide in the Democratic Party over the Israel-Hamas war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bowman, one of the fiercest critics of Israel in Congress, is fighting for his political life<\/a> as he tries to fend off an onslaught of attack ads and win a third term. The United Democracy Project, a super PAC tied to the powerful pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), alone has poured nearly $15 million into ads to oust Bowman and elect Latimer, the Westchester County executive who has spent more than three decades in local politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That spending comes in a diverse district north of Manhattan that mixes urban and suburban areas and is home to one of the most significant Jewish American populations in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As they crisscrossed New York\u2019s 16th District in the final stretch of the race, Bowman and Latimer acknowledged that the Gaza war and record spending have made this a national race. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Latimer \u201cwas recruited by AIPAC to run against me because I called for a permanent cease-fire very early on. AIPAC and affiliates are pouring in an unprecedented amount of money \u2026 and so that makes it essential,\u201d Bowman said in an interview with NBC News in Mount Vernon, a New York City suburb in southern Westchester County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you want to send an educator back to Congress who spent his entire life serving children and families and babies in our community and uplifting the working class?\u201d said Bowman, 48, a former middle school principal in the Bronx. \u201cOr do you want a career politician who is funded by right-wing Republican billionaires, literally buying our democracy? The choice is crystal clear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Latimer, 70, has also sought to strike clear contrast, both in substance and tone, describing himself as more \u201cdiplomatic\u201d at a Monday campaign stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bucking Bowman\u2019s allegation that his potential success Tuesday is AIPAC\u2019s alone, Latimer told reporters at an event with Black faith leaders: \u201cWe had some internal polling data before a dime was spent on this race and the initial positive-negative comparisons that I had and the incumbent … had me ahead at the outset. So if anybody says, \u2018Oh, you spent this much money, that\u2019s why you won,\u2019 that wouldn\u2019t be accurate. We were ahead at the very outset.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe said, \u2018I want to give you a choice, I want to give you something different,\u201d Latimer told NBC News on Monday, referring to Bowman\u2019s 2020 challenge to longtime Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel. \u201cSo I don\u2019t see why my stepping forward is any different now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the closing days of the campaign, Bowman brought out some progressive heavy hitters in an attempt to boost turnout during what would normally be a sleepy summer primary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a pair of campaign events Friday and Saturday, Bowman appeared with Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont and hero of the left who took on Clinton and the Democratic establishment in 2016. Another progressive star, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents a neighboring New York district, appeared with Bowman and Sanders at the Saturday event in the Bronx.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy opponent and AIPAC are the ones destroying democracy,\u201d Bowman shouted at the Saturday rally, his words embodying the acrimony and bitterness that have come to define the tone of this race. \u201cWe\u2019re going to show f—ing AIPAC the power of the mother f—ing South Bronx.\u201d (The South Bronx was previously a part of this district but was drawn out in the recent redistricting cycle.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sanders, who is Jewish, called the race \u201cone of the most important in the modern history of America,\u201d warning that lawmakers won\u2019t stand up to big-money special interests in the future if Bowman is defeated on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou say what? District 16, Bronx, New York, the most important in American history? Really? Yes, really. Because this election is not about Jamaal versus Mr. Latimer,\u201d Sanders told a crowd of about 300 people. \u201cThis election is about whether or not the billionaire class and the oligarchs will control the United States government. And our view is, no, they won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ocasio-Cortez, who like Bowman is a member of \u201cthe squad\u201d of progressive lawmakers of color, told rallygoers that she believes Bowman is being targeted because of his pro-Palestinian views and \u201cracism.\u201d Earlier this year, AIPAC tried and failed to unseat another Black squad member in an area with significant Jewish residents, Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is not lost on us that the one representative out of 435 that these big-money interests pick \u2026 who they want to make an example of is a Black man, the son of a single mother raised in public housing, and later founded one of those most recognized public schools in all of New York City from right here in the South Bronx,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said. \u201cIt is not lost on us \u2014 we see the racism at play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked about these accusations, which have boiled over in the race\u2019s waning days, Latimer attempted to clarify controversial comments he’s made, ultimately concluding: \u201cThey\u2019re trying to hang onto any claim they can, to try to make me something that I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What did he mean by saying that Bowman has an \u201cethnic benefit\u201d in the diverse district? \u201cHe connects to the Bronx because he has a common demographic with the majority of people in the Bronx,\u201d Latimer explained. \u201cAll I was doing was answering the question with the same kind of practical understanding that makes for politics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for a recent swipe that Bowman\u2019s \u201cconstituency is in Dearborn, Michigan\u201d \u2014 an area with a large Muslim population \u2014 Latimer pushed back against Bowman\u2019s charge that the comment amounted to a racial dog whistle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe has a joint-fundraising effort with Rep. [Rashida] Tlaib. She\u2019s based in Dearborn,\u201d Latimer said, referring to the Michigan congresswoman who is also a member of the squad. (While Tlaib\u2019s district does include part of Dearborn, it is mostly made up of areas of Detroit, where she lives.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Latimer, too, has some star power in his corner. In announcing her endorsement for Latimer<\/a> this month, Clinton, a constituent of his in Westchester County, made no mention of Israel, but said Latimer \u201cwill protect abortion rights, stand up to the NRA, and fight for President Biden\u2019s agenda \u2014 just like he\u2019s always done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., a onetime Bowman ally who is seeking a comeback in a neighboring district, is backing Latimer because of Bowman\u2019s remarks on Israel. And on <\/strong>Monday, another key moderate Democrat, Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, the co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, endorsed Latimer over his House colleague. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe need more common-sense leaders and problem solvers in Congress,\u201d Gottheimer, who is Jewish, said on X<\/a>. \u201cI know George will fight hate in all forms, and stand up for the values we all believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked about the heavy hitters lining up behind Latimer, Bowman took a not-so-subtle shot at Clinton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t know how much of a heavy hitter Hillary Clinton is, with all due respect. The people care more about Hakeem Jeffries, myself, and the future of the Democratic Party,\u201d Bowman said, referring to the House minority leader and fellow New York Democrat, who along with his top lieutenants have all endorsed Bowman but have not campaigned with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNational figures hit the trail<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Bowman backtracks<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n