NEW YORK – CBS News projects George Latimer has been watching closely Democratic primaries in New York’s 16th Congressional District, where he defeated incumbent Jamaal Bowman.
It was the most expensive House primary in US history, raising and spending more than $25 million.
A recent Emerson College poll showed Latimer, who entered the race in December, with a significant lead over Bowman (48%-31%), while 21% of voters were undecided.
The race divided prominent Democrats. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Bowman, while Latimer was endorsed by former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Westchester County resident, and Rep. New Jersey’s Josh Gottheimer along with former Bowman ally Mondaire Jones.
Latimer spoke to supporters Tuesday night about the need to bind up the wounds of division in the district and the nation.
“We have to find each other and get in touch with each other. We have to look at the arguments of the far right and the far left and say that you cannot destroy this country with your rhetoric and your arguments,” he said. “We have to have unity across the continuum, and if you believe strongly in it, you still have to work together with other people who don’t share that belief because America is at stake.”
Bowman also spoke to his own supporters.
“We should be ill-adjusted to a sick society. We should be outraged. We should be outraged that a dark money Super PAC can spend $20 million to brainwash people into believing something that is not true. We should be outraged about this,” he said.
He also hinted that he might take up running again in the future.
“You know Jamaal Bowman isn’t going anywhere, right? Because if we can raise $5 million in six months, what can we do in about a year, year and a half?” he said. “There’s a lot of other seats you can run for, you know what I mean?”
What’s at stake
The race has come under intense scrutiny because it was seen as a battle between the left and centrist wings of the Democratic party. An important distinction between Bowman and Latimer was their handling of the war between Israel and Hamas. Bowman, the incumbent president, has been highly critical of Israel’s response to the October 7 Hamas attack, and has called for a ceasefire.
Latimer currently serves as the Westchester County Executive. He is broadly supportive of Israel since the attackeven visiting the country.
Another interesting point for political observers is that Bowman is also a member of the so-called “Squad”, to which belong Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez And Ilhan Omar. Bowman is the first member of the “Squad” to lose a race, dethroned by a centrist.
“One side has enormous resources, and the other side has organizational capacity. What we’ll see here is whether the money outweighs the bodies on the streets, and it probably will,” said political strategist Hank Sheinkopf.
Meanwhile, CBS News projects Ocasio-Cortez has won the Democratic Primary in New York’s 14th Congressional District, defeating challenger Martin Dolan.
Sprint to the finish
It was a sprint to the finish for both Bowman and Latimer, who had busy days behind them. Bowman visited several polling places, while Latimer focused his time on local businesses.
“This is a lot versus money. We can’t allow a lot of money to come into our district and buy our district,” Bowman said.
“The people on the left, the Squad, are out there making statements and trying to get the dialogue going. I’m not worried about getting the dialogue going. I want to see if we can solve problems,” Latimer said.
Voters get their say
The deluge of ads seemed to sway some, but others said it was everyday issues and daily performance that drove their decisions.
“Some people said vote for Bowman, but why does he get so much negative press?” said one voter, adding that the ads influenced their decision.
“Healthcare is always one thing. Crime is always a problem,” said voter Jacob Mobley.
“Someone who is loyal and consistent and not just showing up to get voted in, but someone who will actually be consistent here,” said voter Zamirah El-Amin.
