Rep. Engel beaten in N.Y. Dem primary
Ex-principal defeats longtime congressman
NEW YORK — Former middle school principal Jamaal Bowman has toppled 16-term U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel in New York’s Democratic primary in another upset for the party’s insurgent wing.
A political novice who has never held public office, Bowman, 44, was a progressive African American challenger who said Engel, 73, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had lost touch with his economically and racially diverse district.
Bowman declared victory June 24, a day after the primary election. The Associated Press was able to call the race Friday after obtaining an absentee vote count that showed Engel narrowly ahead among votes received by mail, but not by nearly the margin necessary to overcome Bowman’s Election Day advantage.
“The numbers are clear, and I will not be the Democratic nominee for the 16th Congressional District seat in the fall election,” Engel said. “Serving the people of the Bronx and Westchester in Congress has been the greatest privilege of my life, and what a remarkable 32 years it has been.”
Bowman earned his extraordinary win in a campaign season upended first by the coronavirus outbreak, then by protests over the death of George Floyd.
“I’m a Black man who was raised by a single mother in a housing project. That story doesn’t usually end in Congress. But today, that 11-year old boy who was beaten by police is about to be your next Representative,” Bowman said in a statement. Bowman said his campaign was anchored in the fight for racial and economic justice “and it resonated in every part of the district.”
Both were unable to do traditional campaigning because of social distancing restrictions, but Bowman criticized Engel for staying at his home in Maryland as the pandemic turned his district into one of the virus’s most deadly areas. Engel said he was working on behalf of the district from Washington.
Then, after protests over Floyd’s death in Minnesota gave way to two nights of looting, Engel had a bad gaffe while appearing at a Bronx event where he joined other local politicians appealing for peace.
“If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care,” he said while pleading with the lead organizer for a chance to speak, in a comment picked up by a live microphone.
Engel, who is white, said he has “always believed that Black lives matter” and said his comments were taken out of context, but Bowman, who has spoken of his own experiences with police brutality, said they illustrated why the district needed new leadership.