Last Tuesday, New Yorkers sent a pivotal message when voters crushingly rejected Rep. Jamaal Bowman, representing parts of Westchester County and the northern half of the Bronx, in American history’s most expensive House primary race. Bowman is the first Democratic incumbent and the first member of the progressive group of lawmakers known as “the Squad” to be kicked out from Congress this cycle, with a loss that signals potential trouble for the rest of his members.
Well known for being among some of the most progressive and left-wing members of the U.S. Congress, “the Squad” is an informal group of Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Jamaal Bowman of New York, Cori Bush of Missouri, Greg Casar of Texas, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, and Delia Ramirez of Illinois. Despite Republican choices to use the group’s term to imply negative connotations, members of the Squad use the term to express unity among those seeking a more just world.
With a loss to Westchester County Executive George Latimer, Bowman’s boot was analyzed quickly by political observers, who were quick to blame the loss on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, and the United Democracy Project, a super PAC aligned with AIPAC, which poured in more than $7 million into the contest. The group also called attention to Bowman’s record, which included voting against President Joe Biden’s bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure law and his rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war.
“We should be outraged when a super PAC of dark money can spend (millions of) dollars to brainwash people into believing something that isn’t true,” Bowman said during his concession speech.
Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action, a Muslim-American advocacy that supported Bowman, stated that it should alarm Democratic voters and leadership that a group connecting conservative donors with campaigns has such an influence in their primaries.
“It’s become a vehicle for far-right GOP, billionaires, and funders to funnel their money to interfere in Democratic primaries to select more favorable candidates, some within the Democratic Party,” he said.
Bowman’s loss could signal trouble for other Squad members as attention turns to the West for the upcoming August 6 primary in Missouri, which features a Democratic primary challenge against incumbent Rep. Cori Bush. The Missouri sophomore lawmaker finds herself in a similar horserace of similar factors—opposition to Israel, strife with Biden, and non-ideological fumbles—that contributed to Bowman’s 17-point loss.
In a recent statement, Bush praised Bowman’s work as a middle school principal while also referring to him as a “brother-in-service.” The 47-year-old congresswoman stated that the “same extremists” are targeting her district but that her constituents “will not be silenced or sold out.” Further saying, “We will continue to fight for the future St. Louis deserves and show that organized people beats organized money… Because St. Louis is not for sale.”
Bush’s challenger is St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, who has positioned himself as more moderate than Bush on a host of issues.
