The New York congressman who is a member of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s far-left “squad,” Jamaal Bowman, has lost two key local endorsements to his primary challenger, making his uphill battle for re-election more daunting.
On Tuesday, a state senator, Peter Harckham, and an assemblyman, Chris Burdick, announced their endorsement of Mr. Bowman’s challenger, the Westchester County executive, George Latimer.
In a statement supplied to the Sun, Mr. Burdick said, “I am proud to stand with George, a colleague, a friend, and great legislator who really cares about the people he represents and fights for fairness and equity.” A similar statement by Mr. Harckham read, “I am honored to endorse George Latimer, a lifelong New Yorker who has dedicated his tenure in public service to delivering unparalleled progressive results for families.”
The endorsements for Mr. Latimer come as Mr. Bowman is seeking to overcome a series of embarrassments and controversies that have dogged him over the last year.
In recent days, the congressman has been outspoken in his support of the protesters at Columbia University. Then, after the New York Police Department declared the demonstrations a riot for occupying the university’s famed Hamilton Hall, Mr. Bowman accused the police of “brutality.”
In a speech given on the House floor on Wednesday, Mr. Bowman stated, “When I was 11, I was a victim of police brutality just for being Black in America. Now I see that brutality being inflicted on peaceful students at Columbia and across the country. We must stand with our students to demand liberation for Palestinians and everyone in this world.”
In an interview with MSNBC, the congressman also opined that incidents of antisemitism amid the protests have been “minimal and overblown by the media,” after stating that he had spoken with “so-called Pro-Israel students” at Columbia University.
Mr. Bowman is living down an incident last year when he was caught on camera pulling a Capitol Hill fire alarm during a key vote. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was put on probation.
Mr. Latimer, the executive in charge of Westchester County, an affluent New York City suburb with a million residents and a large Jewish population, entered the primary in December and has focused on Mr. Bowman’s anti-Israel stance.
The county executive has significantly out-raised the “squad” member and is heavily favored in the polls. As of March 31, Mr. Latimer had twice as much in his campaign funds as the incumbent, having raised 10 times the amount of funds as Mr. Bowman at Westchester County.
Beyond the monetary support, Mr. Latimer is polling far ahead of the incumbent, according to data collected by a political strategist firm on behalf of a pro-Israel democratic organization. The county executive held a 17-point lead over the incumbent, with 13 percent undecided.
