By Scott Wong, Bridget Bowman and Ben Kamisar
Progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., lost his primary Tuesday to a moderate challenger who was backed by pro-Israel groups, NBC News projected, following a bitter and expensive race that exposed the party’s divisions.
The race in New York’s 16th District between Bowman and Westchester County executive George Latimer drew more ad spending — $25 million, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact — than any House primary in history. Nearly $15 million of that spending came from the United Democracy Project, a super PAC linked to the powerful pro-Israel lobby American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which backed Latimer.
The 48-year-old Bowman, one of Congress’ fiercest critics of Israel, is the first incumbent Democratic lawmaker to lose a primary this election cycle and the first member of the so-called “squad” of progressive lawmakers of color to be ousted from power since the group formed after the 2018 elections. Other squad members, including Reps. Ilham Omar, Somali D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib Hamas, D-Mich., and Summer Lee , D-Pa., have been targeted, but survived primary challenges.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/jamaal-bowman-george-latimer-ny-house-primary-results-rcna158487
