Jamaal Bowman Defeated: First 'Squad' Member to Get Ousted From Congress

Representative Jamaal Bowman has become the first member of House progressive Democrats' "Squad" to lose his seat.

Bowman lost the Democratic primary for New York's 16th Congressional District on Tuesday night to George Latimer, a former state lawmaker now serving as Westchester County's executive.

The race was called less than an hour after polls closed. With over 60 percent of the vote counted as of 10:05 p.m. ET, Latimer had a lead of roughly 10 points over Bowman, according to the Associated Press.

Newsweek reached out for comment to the Bowman campaign via email on Tuesday night.

"Now I ask you to give me a chance to go to Washington," Latimer told supporters while delivering his victory speech in White Plains, N.Y. "You've given me that first major step. Let me try to do what I can do to bring some positive results to what's happening down there."

"I have never viewed an election as a blank check from you to me," he continued. "It is a promissory note from me to you."

Bowman took on a defiant tone while addressing his supporters, telling the crowd in Yonkers, N.Y., that "we should not be well-adjusted to a sick society" while suggesting that they should be "outraged" over his defeat.

"We should be outraged when a super PAC of dark money can spend $20 million to brainwash people into believing something that isn't true," Bowman said. "We should be outraged when, unfortunately, some so-called Democrats are aligning themselves with radical, racist, right-wing Republicans."

The closely watched race became a referendum on the left's views on Israel since the start of its war with Hamas in October. While Bowman has been among the most vocal pro-Palestinian members of Congress, Latimer was recruited by Jewish leaders to run for Congress in response to Bowman's criticism of Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza.

Pro-Israel groups had injected more than $14.5 million into the contest, hoping to help Latimer defeat the congressman.

Bowman was first elected to Congress in 2020. The middle-school principal stunned political observers when he defeated a 16-term congressman—a victory heralded as proof of the left's strength within the Democratic Party.

Whether the faction still wields the power it has held is unclear. Bowman's loss comes after progressive heavyweights rushed to help the congressman hold on to his seat.

Over the weekend, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rallied for Bowman, framing the primary as "the many, not the money."

Some have also warned that Bowman's defeat could silence Democrats willing to speak out against Israel.

"This is the message of this campaign: You stand up to powerful interests, they will try to bring you down," Sanders told The New York Times last week. "Today, they're in the Democratic primary. Tomorrow, they'll be in the Republican primary. They don't care."

Update 06/25/24, 10:35 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include remarks from Latimer and Bowman.