Jamaal Bowman, a progressive congressmember whose rhetoric over the Israel-Hamas war has drawn recrimination from many of his fellow Democrats, officially launched his re-election campaign on Wednesday night.
But it wasn’t your traditional launch.
Bowman’s kickoff took on the cadence of an antiwar protest, in which he doubled down on pleas for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas — the very issue that has drawn fire from members of his party.
The two-term representative and former middle school principal who ousted longtime Rep. Eliot Engel in 2020 now faces a primary challenge from Westchester County Executive George Latimer, a staunchly pro-Israel Democrat. In a video launching his campaign in December, Latimer directly criticized Bowman’s remarks on the Israel-Hamas war and cited them as a central reason for his decision to run.
More moderate New York Democrats have traditionally been strong supporters of Israel, and the conflict has driven a wedge between them and progressives who have expressed sympathy for the Palestinian people.
“If we weren’t doing the right thing, if we weren’t fighting for justice, if we weren’t fighting for freedom and humanity and equality and our children — they would not be coming after us,” Bowman said, from a Yonkers fish-and-chips restaurant.
Bowman, who represents the northernmost edge of the Bronx and the southern half of Westchester in New York’s 16th Congressional District, could be facing the state’s most contentious Democratic primary of the 2024 election cycle — and an expensive one — as the party had hoped to focus its efforts on winning back House seats from Republicans.
A spokesperson for Latimer’s campaign declined to comment on Bowman’s launch.
Latimer has the support of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, which has set its sights on unseating members of the so-called “Squad” in Washington for their pro-Palestinian rhetoric on the war. Bowman is a close ally of Rep….
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