Bowman to face primary challenge from pro-Israel Democrat
ALBANY, N.Y. — The battle over the Israel-Hamas war has divided Democrats across the country. Now the tension is set to be on display in a suburban New York House seat.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer will launch a challenge against Rep. Jamaal Bowman on Wednesday in a district with one of the nation's largest Jewish populations. Latimer is staunchly pro-Israel, and Bowman, a member of the liberal Squad, has largely supported pro-Palestinian stances.
With pro-Israel groups looking to back Latimer, the race is likely to become one of the country’s top battlegrounds for Democratic angst over how full-throated the party’s support for Israel should be.
“Rather than standing with President Biden and the overwhelming pro-Israel Democratic majority, Representative Bowman has aligned with the anti-Israel extremist fringe,” AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann said Tuesday. “Democrats in this district deserve a representative who stands by the mainstream view, which supports the US-Israel relationship.”
The state’s organized left is not taking the challenge lightly.
As Latimer plans run — he filed paperwork Monday to start raising money for a campaign — supporters, including fellow Squad member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the Working Families Party have rolled out a series of early Bowman endorsements.
“It would be a tremendous loss to lose the voice of someone so grounded and so unique in Congress,” state WFP co-director Ana Maria Archila said of Bowman. “There aren’t many people like Bowman who........
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