Dem
51
GOP
49
One left-wing former Black congressman, namely Mondaire Jones, lucked out last week when Liz Whitmer Gereghty decided to drop her challenge. Yesterday, a current left-wing Black congressman, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), got a new challenger. Former Westchester County Executive George Latimer jumped into the primary race against him. He attacked Bowman for spending his time trying to help the Palestinians, rather than the people of Westchester County, which has a substantial Jewish population. Latimer's introductory video contains a clip of Bowman voting against a resolution to condemn Hamas after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel. He also attacked Bowman for voting against Joe Biden's infrastructure bill. Bowman was one of only six Democrats to oppose the bill.
The primary is going to be even worse than the Jones-Gereghty one would have been, because Latimer has been running for public office in Westchester County since 1987 and has never lost a race. Before being a two-term county executive, he served a number of terms in the state Assembly and state Senate. He is well known in NY-16, which covers a smidgen of the Bronx and about half of Westchester. The district is D+20. It is a well-off district, with a median household income of $96,000, well above the national average of $75,000.
Latimer is not Bowman's only problem. Rep. Lisa McCalin (R-MI) has introduced a resolution to censure Bowman for pulling a fire alarm just before a key vote to fund the government in September. It caused chaos as the House evacuated. There was no fire. The Democrats will try to table the motion. If that fails, the vote on the censure motion will get a House vote eventually, though not necessarily this week. (V)