Jamaal Bowman, a black middle school principal from the Bronx, appears poised to unseat veteran Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel in the most closely-watched New York primary.
Reuters reports: “Bowman, 44, was leading Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, by 59.48% to 35.31%, the New York state elections board said, with 627 of 732 election precincts reporting. Whoever wins the Democratic nomination is likely to win the seat in November. … Progressive Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as well as Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Bowman, while Democratic Party stalwarts, such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the party's 2016 presidential nominee, rallied around Engel.”
The NYT reported: “Mr. Engel has widespread support from senior House Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi; James E. Clyburn, the House majority whip; and Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic Caucus chairman. On Wednesday, he was endorsed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York.But Mr. Engel has not exactly helped his cause. In early June, at a news conference in the Bronx devoted to Black Lives Matter, he was caught on microphone suggesting that he was only there because of his contested race. ‘If I didn't have a primary,' he said, ‘I wouldn't care.' Even party veterans cringed. ‘This is like hanging a sign from your neck saying, ‘I've been in office too long,'' tweeted David Axelrod, the Democratic strategist.”
