New York congressional race: fight to unseat senior party figure splits Democrats
Longstanding tensions within the Democratic party have reemerged in a New York congressional race where an insurgent candidate is seeking to unseat a long-time senior party figure.
The divide is largely between establishment Democrats lining up behind incumbent congressman Eliot Engel, a member of congress for three decades who chairs the House foreign affairs committee and liberals and anti-establishment Democrats backing Jamaal Bowman, a teacher and middle school principal.
The race has emerged as the next battlefield between divergent wings of the Democratic party. It is the latest chance for progressives to finally notch a win after a long drought of primary contest losses and a stinging defeat of Vermont senator Bernie Sanders in the presidential race.
“This one has really caught fire and it’s caught fire for a progressive movement that’s needed to land some more victories,” said Ian Russell, a Democratic strategist and former deputy executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The hope for progressives is that Tuesday’s primary contest will result in a similar outcome to the 2018 Democratic primary race for New York’s 14th congressional district where progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a virtual unknown, ousted incumbent congressman Joe Crowley, a member of Democratic leadership in the House of
Representatives.
For liberals, that race replaced a longtime Washington outsider and relative centrist with liberal firebrand “AOC”, who now wields unparalleled power for a young freshman congresswoman and has achieved global fame.
Unlike that 2018 race though, a constellation of liberal outside groups have already rallied around Bowman. He has been endorsed by Our Revolution, a Sanders-aligned offshoot, Justice Democrats, MoveOn, the Working Families Party and Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren among others.
Also unlike Ocasio-Cortez, the infrastructure of Bowman’s campaign is more professional. He’s used a swath of well-regarded vendors and consultants regarded highly in progressive circles.
Engel, however, has enjoyed his own share of high profile Democratic support, albeit from the more establishment wing of the party. He’s been endorsed by Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Jim Clyburn, the highest ranking African American Democrat in Congress.
Clyburn in a wide ranging interview with the Guardian, explained that his history with Engel goes back years.
Engel had always been there for him, Clyburn said, so how could he not be there for the New York congressman?
“Anytime I’ve asked him to support me for something he did. Now he asked me to support him and I’ll say ‘Well I can’t do that because this person I’ve never met?’” Clyburn said. “I would be less than a human being not to support this person who’s been supporting me for 20 years – more than 20 years.”
Oftentimes heated primary races between two wings of a party are usually based on dramatically different political views. But this one is also marked by age and race. Engel, a 73-year old white man, is facing the prospect of being replaced by a 44-year-old black educator.
Bowman is not the only non-white longshot progressive candidate who’s enjoyed a burst of support.
In Kentucky, state representative Charles Booker has emerged as a serious candidate in the Democratic primary to face Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, despite the fact that Amy McGrath has been the longtime favorite. Booker has been endorsed by Warren and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
But for liberals, the hopes are higher in New York.
“Its emerged as the hottest democratic primary in the country, with all the makings of an AOC style upset repeat,” Democratic strategist and admaker Julian Mulvey said. “Bowman’s campaign and message is picking up momentum and energy. Combined with a restlessness brought on by multiple crises, make it choppy waters for the incumbent to navigate.”
A Bowman win is far from a sure thing. Polling is sparse but Engel’s campaign recently tweeted that the incumbent congressman still leads by single digits – arguably a lot less than an incumbent should be ahead against a first-time candidate.