The progressive left digs in for besieged New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman in Democratic primary clash

The historically expensive bid to unseat Rep. Jamaal Bowman is entering its final frantic hours as a moderate, White county executive from north of New York City – propelled by pro-Israel groups’ record advertising outlay – appears poised to deny the progressive, Black former middle school principal a third term in Congress.

The historically expensive bid to unseat Rep. Jamaal Bowman is entering its final frantic hours as a moderate, White county executive from north of New York City – propelled by pro-Israel groups’ record advertising outlay – appears poised to deny the progressive, Black former middle school principal a third term in Congress. New York Democrats are no strangers to hard-nosed, high-priced primary campaigns. But the fury that has captured the 16th Congressional District, which covers parts of the Bronx and suburban Westchester, now threatens to open a wider rift in liberal politics, both here and across the country, where other progressive champions face primary challenges. The showdown between Bowman against George Latimer, the Westchester County leader who entered the race in December at the urging of pro-Israel leaders, was always poised to spotlight the divisions within the Democratic Party over the Israel’s war in Gaza. What has followed, though, has been something much nastier. Fraught debates over race and class, papered over for years in this diverse but largely segregated district, have exploded into a referendum on the nature – and future – of the party. Defending Bowman, now considered the most endangered Democrat of this primary season, has become more than a political necessity. The fortunes being spent by the pro-Israel lobby, including AIPAC and Democratic Majority for Israel, to boost Latimer have contributed to the end-of-days vibe around the race. If Bowman falls, his allies reason, a chilling effect will settle in, radiating up and down the ballot. “If they are successful in defeating Jamaal, every member of Congress” will be looking over their shoulder, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said Saturday at a rally for Bowman, asking whether “the billionaire class is going to spend millions of dollars against me in my campaign? … Look what they did to Bowman in the Bronx.” In an interview with CNN days earlier, Bowman argued the race transcended the factional fights Democrats have become accustomed to since Sanders’ first presidential run in 2016 and Ocasio-Cortez’s primary win two years later.