It Wasn't AIPAC. It Wasn't Progressives. It was Bowman.
Representative Jamaal Bowman from New York House District 16 lost his primary to Democratic challenger George Latimer. As a prominent member of The Squad, Bowman’s loss caused outrage and frustration for progressive Democrats.
Leading up to the primary election, the alarms were sounding. AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group, had decided to back Latimer and spent a record sum of money on a congressional representative campaign, with over $14.5 million spent on advertisements.
The Squad blamed AIPAC for Bowman’s defeat. But that is more of an excuse to avoid discussing the real reason, which is very straightforward.
Weeks after the horrific Hamas terrorist attack on Israel that took over 1,100 lives, Bowman made a speech to Palestinian protesters claiming there was no evidence that Israelis were raped during the attack. He claimed it was propaganda. Later, after the UN verified the rapes, Bowman walked back his remarks and condemned the sexual abuse.
That initial denial of the atrocities that took place on October 7, along with Bowman’s continued criticism of Israel, is what drew AIPAC’s attention. While other progressives didn’t deny that the rapes happened, they have been equally critical of Israel’s approach to the war in Gaza. Yet, AIPAC didn’t fund competitors to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, or the rest of the Progressive Democrats except for Cori Bush.
And that is where the answer lies. Both Bush and Bowman made themselves vulnerable through their actions.
Bowman has had numerous issues besides the one mentioned above. Personal blog posts surfaced from before Bowman became a member of Congress, where he questioned aspects of the terrorist attack on 9/11 and discussed conspiracies surrounding that day.
There was the time that Bowman pulled a fire alarm to delay a congressional vote, an act the House of Representatives later censured him for. He shouted at Rep. Thomas Massie inside the Capitol and got into a heated argument with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on the steps of Congress in front of multiple news cameras.
Bowman also voted against key Democratic legislation, including the infrastructure bill and a hard-fought measure to raise the debt ceiling. AIPAC focused its advertising campaign against Bowman on these votes, not on issues surrounding Israel. The ads painted Bowman as a disloyal Democrat at a time when voters on the left were concerned about the threat to Democracy that Trump and MAGA posed.
While AIPAC is acutely focused on Israel, voters in America are not. And Democratic voters especially are not supportive of Israel’s approach to their war against Hamas. A recent Gallup poll found that 55% of Americans overall disapprove of Israel’s military action and that 75% of Democrats disapprove. This is why AIPAC isn’t funding many Democratic primary challengers.
Israel isn’t a winning issue, but it still makes sense for a pro-Israel lobbying group to try to oust the most outspoken members of Congress who oppose Israel. That would be progressives, but overall, progressives are very popular in their districts.
Cori Bush is another target because she is under investigation by the Justice Department for potential misuse of campaign spending on security services.
Bush’s campaigns have spent over $756,000 on security services since 2018. Bush also married her security guard and kept him on the campaign payroll as part of those security services. It is not illegal to hire and pay a spouse or relative to work on your campaign as long as their services are legitimate and you are not paying them above fair market value. Bush has denied all wrongdoing and is currently polling as tied with her AIPAC-backed primary challenger. Missouri’s primary takes place on August 6.
Bowman had an additional problem outside of his political issues and inflammatory statements. New York underwent redistricting, which meant Bowman wasn’t only working to convince supporters from his past two elections to vote for him again; he was also working to win over brand new voters.
Before AIPAC got involved, polls showed Bowman trailing Latimer by at least 10 points, and the majority of AIPAC’s spending in the race happened after a survey showed Bowman behind by 17 points.
AIPAC saw an opportunity to ensure a staunch critic of Israel was removed from office and replaced with a pro-Israel centrist. They pounced. In the end, after record-breaking ad spending, Bowman lost by 17 points. AIPAC likely hadn’t needed to spend much to win, if they even needed to spend at all. One thing that AIPAC got for its money is attention. If people are claiming that Bowman lost because of AIPAC, AIPAC gains influence.
When AOC and the other original Squad members arrived in Congress, they were fired up and ready to change the whole system. They regularly butted heads with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. They had interviews where they attacked Democrat politicians and leadership. They joined the Defund the Police movement, which became a major controversial headache for the entire party and cost Democrats some elections.
Over time, these progressives found that it was more productive to work with the party and to push forward their agendas behind the scenes. A unified front led to bigger wins.
President Biden was considered a moderate and centrist presidential candidate. In office, he has brought about many progressive wins, including student debt forgiveness, the largest investment in green energy in history, unions being the strongest they’ve been in decades, more Americans having healthcare than ever before while healthcare costs have been reduced, Biden provided a pathway to citizenship for migrants who’ve been in the US for at least a decade and are married to an American citizen, even federal aid benefits from programs like SNAP were increased.
President Biden has been a very progressive President with numerous legislative wins. That is what working within the system and playing the political game can accomplish. Making big scenes in Congress, pulling fire alarms, and voting against consequential legislation leads directly to election losses, at least for candidates on the left.
America does have a serious problem with special interests, dark money, and PACs being able to influence politics heavily. It is a topic worthy of in-depth discussion to find a path for change. But that isn’t the reason Jamaal Bowman lost his primary.