Democratic ‘Squad’ member loses New York primary on split over Gaza war

Jamaal Bowman has become the first member of the leftwing “Squad” to be ousted by the Democratic party establishment after a New York congressional primary inflamed by tensions over Israel’s war in Gaza.

Bowman was defeated by George Latimer, a local county executive, in a contest that became a showdown between progressive and moderate Democrats and was marred by allegations of racism and antisemitism.

It was the most expensive primary in the party’s history, with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying group, spending $15mn on an advertising blitz to take down Bowman, a Black former middle school principal who has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

The Associated Press called the race in favour of Latimer at 9.38pm in New York, less than an hour after polls closed.

Moderate Democrats are hoping that his defeat will provide a blueprint for challenging other Squad members. Progressives, in turn, have tried to cast the race as an example of money run amok in Democratic politics, and the last gasp of a desperate pro-Israel lobby.

Campaigning with Bowman on Saturday, Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator, called the race “one of the most important in the modern history of America” and a contest between “the billionaire class” and ordinary citizens.

The 16th congressional district encompasses a swath of the relatively wealthy Westchester suburbs north of New York City as well as a patch of the northern Bronx. It is overwhelmingly Democratic, meaning the winner of Tuesday’s party primary was almost assured of representing the district in Washington.

Bowman, a resident of the working-class city of Yonkers and an outspoken champion of social justice, claimed the seat four years ago after upsetting Eliot Engel, a 16-term incumbent and staunch supporter of Israel. That primary was held in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder by police, which precipitated a national reckoning over race.

But Bowman antagonised many Jewish voters, who account for about 9 per cent of the electorate, with his criticism of Israel’s response to Hamas’s October 7 attack. He was one of a handful of representatives who voted against a motion condemning the terror group and pledging support for Israel. He also publicly doubted Israeli women’s claims of rape by their captors — although he later apologised.

Many who opposed Bowman complained in interviews that their dissatisfaction had less to do with Israel than his lack of attention to the district, particularly its more affluent neighbourhoods.

In his campaign, Latimer, who has served at various levels of state and local government since 1987, said Bowman favoured social media rhetoric over results in Congress.

He was aided by an AIPAC-funded advertising campaign that highlighted Bowman’s vote against President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill — a vote the congressman has defended as a tactical move to increase pressure on the White House for more social spending.

In a sign of the race’s importance, Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York representative who is the Squad’s leading star, joined Bowman for a boisterous rally last weekend.

“My opponent supports genocide,” Bowman told the crowd at one point. “My opponent and AIPAC are the ones destroying our democracy and it is on us, it is on all of us, to save our democracy.”