N.Y. progressive wins in House primary

Jamaal Bowman, a progressive insurgent, has scored a stunning victory over Rep. Eliot Engel of New York in a Democratic primary, beating back the efforts of the Democratic establishment to protect a 16- term incumbent.

Bowman, a middle school principal from Yonkers, was declared the winner Friday, after a count of absentee ballots verified what seemed clear on primary night, when he emerged with a commanding lead over Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The victory came with the help of an array of stars from the Democratic Party’s left wing, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

As a first-time candidate with a fiery anti-establishment message, Bowman’s victory has echoes of Ocasio-Cortez’s win in 2018 over another entrenched incumbent in New York, Rep. Joseph Crowley, then the No. 4 Democrat in the House.

In the closing weeks of the campaign, as Bowman gained momentum and prominent backers, members of the Democratic old guard tried to salvage Engel’s flagging campaign. Hillary Clinton endorsed the congressman a week before the primary, followed in short order by Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, a third-term Democrat, who said that Engel deserved a vote because “seniority matters.”

Those pleas followed endorsements from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California; Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the House majority whip; and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House Democratic Caucus chairman.

All was for naught, as Bowman bested Engel and two other Democratic challengers, embracing progressive plans like the Green New Deal and “Medicare for All,” while also preaching the need for broader social changes like criminal justice reform and addressing income inequality.

Such issues were given fresh emphasis and added urgency as the nation reeled in the wake of the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in late May. The subsequent demonstrations were broadly incorporated into, and invigorated, the Black Lives Matter movement, and gave a powerful talking point for Bowman, who is Black and said he had been physically attacked by police as a child.

In a statement released shortly after The Associated Press called the race Friday morning, Bowman referenced both his compelling biography and the continuing reckoning on race and policing in America.

“I’m a Black man who was raised by a single mother in a housing project. That story doesn’t usually end in Congress,” he said. “But today, that 11-year old boy who was beaten by police is about to be your next representative.”

Engel becomes the fifth House incumbent and second Democrat to fall in this year’s primaries; Daniel Lipinski of Illinois was the other.

Bowman, 44, is the prohibitive favorite to win in November in the 16th District, where Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 4-to-1. There is no Republican candidate, and only one other challenger, Patrick McManus, of the Conservative Party.