BYE BYE BOWMAN Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s big loss on Tuesday to Westchester County Executive George Latimer was greeted inside the House Democratic Caucus, by and large, with a big shrug. While much of the media coverage of the race focused on the central role of AIPAC, the pro-Israel group that financed a $15 million effort to elect Latimer over Bowman’s pro-Palestinian stances, many of his fellow lawmakers instead pointed to his other problems as a candidate. Those included alienating many of his voters in a heavily Jewish area directly north of New York City, the resurfacing of past controversial comments and his illegal triggering of a Capitol Hill fire alarm last year — all of which made him vulnerable to a challenge. One House Democrat who spoke on condition of anonymity said Bowman’s situation shouldn’t be a reflection on other Democrats — such as fellow Squad member Cori Bush of Missouri, who is facing her own, so-far-maller barrage of AIPAC spending ahead of her Aug. 6 primary. “I don't think this primary should be used for anything other than a demonstration that someone who does not pay attention to their district is in trouble,” the member said. “I really believe that he invited his own woes.” Left vs. center: Still, Democrats who were already at ideological odds with Bowman didn’t mind twisting the knife Wednesday. "I think he crossed the line with his Jew-hating comments," said Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), the only sitting member of Congress to have endorsed Latimer before the primary, who also accused Bowman of “putting other Democrats at risk and the re-election of the president at risk.” (Bowman has strenuously denied allegations of antisemitism.) Meanwhile, a top progressive, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), played down the ideological implications of Bowman’s loss. “I don't think it's so much on the spectrum of where politics are,” he said. “It's the fact that if you have $20 million of outside money in a primary where the dollars are significantly smaller than the general election, you're going to have a distorted influence.” “I'm hoping that our leadership can talk to the AIPAC folks and say: Stay out of our damn races,” Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal said. When asked whether Democratic leadership would actually do that: “I don’t know, we’ll see.” Progressive leaders held multiple meetings with leadership last year to nudge them to keep AIPAC out of Democratic primaries. They were unsuccessful. The CBC’s role: There were similarly mixed feelings inside the Congressional Black Caucus, which will be losing a member with Bowman’s departure in January. Four years ago, the CBC’s political arm backed then-Rep. Eliot Engel, who is white, over Bowman, observing a tradition of protecting incumbents. This time, Bowman got their nod despite sometimes being at odds with the institutional-minded members of the bloc. Gregory Meeks, the chair of the CBC’s PAC and a major player in New York politics, said he was ready to move on after Bowman’s loss. “The people of the 16th Congressional District decided that they were going to elect someone else, just as it took place in 2020,” Meeks said. “My focus right now is to make sure that Hakeem Jeffries becomes the next speaker.” Bowman’s outreach to the bloc’s top members appeared to be somewhat haphazard ahead of the primary. Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.), a member of the group’s leadership, said Bowman hadn’t reached out for help before the primary but said “wherever possible, we should try to support each other.” Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) said Bowman did reach out for her support, and she donated: “I don’t know what he did with everybody else.” And Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), the former CBC chair and longtime progressive voice, said, “I helped him and I’m very proud of it.” — Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz, with an assist from Mia McCarthy
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