Jamaal Bowman, a former teacher endorsed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Elizabeth Warren, has ousted the 16-term Democratic congressman Eliot Engel in the race for New York’s 16th district, marking a major win for the party’s progressive wing.Bowman had been leading Engel and candidate Christopher Fink since the 6 July primary but the race had not been called by the Associated Press until Friday. In the end Bowman defeated Engel with 55% of the vote, a margin of roughly 12,000 votes, when the race was called. Bowman had declared victory earlier in the month when in-person voting had concluded.Bowman’s victory over Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs committee, is a stunning victory for progressives who rallied around Bowman in the primary. Bowman was something of a progressive darling, earning the support of standard bearers such as congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Warren, as well as outside liberal groups like MoveOn and Our Revolution.Engel, meanwhile, had been endorsed by some party establishment figures including Hillary Clinton, House speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democratic senate leader Chuck Schumer, and congressman Jim Clyburn, the highest ranking black Democrat in Congress.In a campaign memo, Bowman’s campaign manager, Luke Hayes, wrote: “Jamaal’s win has been compared to AOC’s in 2018, but the big difference is that this time, they saw us coming. They took nothing for granted, and spent over $5m against us. They aired millions of dollars in attack ads, called in every political favor, and pulled all the stops. And we still won.”The race was somewhat reminiscent of Ocasio-Cortez’s surprise victory over congressman and House Democratic caucus chair Joe Crowley in 2018. Ocasio-Cortez was the longshot progressive favorite in that primary.Hayes described Bowman as a “brilliant, authentic, caring, fun, empathetic, passionate, and hardworking” candidate in the memo celebrating the victory. Bowman’s primary essentially assures his future in Congress. Voters in the district have for decades voted decisively for the Democratic nominee for Congress and the president.Engel’s ouster is also a much needed victory for progressives after both Bernie Sanders and Warren lost the Democratic primary for president to the more centrist Joe Biden.“From the very beginning, we anchored our campaign in the fight for racial and economic justice. We spoke the truth – about the police, about systemic racism, about inequality – and it resonated in every part of the district,” Bowman said in a statement to reporters. “We brought people together across race, across class, across religion, across gender, to fight for justice, to fight for equality, and to fight to create a country that works for all of us. We didn’t let them divide us. And we did it all without accepting a dime from corporate Pacs or lobbyists” More
