George Latimer (D) defeated incumbent Jamaal Bowman (D) in the Democratic primary in New York’s 16th Congressional District on Jun. 25, 2024. As of Jun. 26, Latimer received 54.5% of the vote to Bowman’s 45.5%.
Bowman was the first Democratic U.S. House incumbent to lose a primary in the 2024 election cycle. According to AdImpact, satellite groups had spent more than $23 million on ads as of Jun. 18, 2024, more than in any other U.S. House primary to date.
Post-primary media coverage examined the effect of satellite spending relative to other factors in determining the primary’s outcome. In its analysis of the results, Punchbowl News identified criticisms over Bowman’s conduct while in office and Latimer’s long history in local elected politics as key factors alongside the satellite spending, concluding that “Latimer’s win isn’t easily replicated across the country…AIPAC wouldn’t have dedicated millions of dollars to a primary challenge unless the incumbent was already vulnerable.”
In an interview with CBS News ahead of the election, political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said Latimer’s fundraising advantage was key: “One side has tremendous resources, and the other side has organizing ability. What we’ll see here is if the money outweighs the bodies on the streets, and it’s likely that the money will.” An Axios review of the primary result quoted U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D) as saying satellite groups supporting Latimer spent more than was necessary to defeat Bowman, “arguing that Bowman was ‘sufficiently out of step with the district’ that Latimer would have won with ‘a lot less’ financial support.”
Media coverage before the primary emphasized the candidates’ disagreements over the war in Gaza. According to Spectrum News NY1, the “war between Israel and Hamas is a defining issue in the race.” The Washington Post described Bowman as “one of the most outspoken critics of Israel’s military response to Hamas’s deadly terrorist attacks last fall.” The Post said that “pro-Israel groups have rallied behind Latimer and have vowed to spend millions unseating Bowman.” Bowman said Latimer was “running on famine. He’s running on the starvation of children supported by AIPAC and Netanyahu,” while Latimer said Bowman had “been in such obvious opposition to Israel for such a long time that it’s alienated people in the Jewish community.”
Latimer was, at the time of the election, the Westchester County Executive and a former state legislator and marketing executive. Latimer said he “helped lead the effort to make Westchester, a formerly solid Republican County, into a blue firewall that has withstood multiple red waves in recent years.” Latimer criticized Bowman’s conduct in office, referencing incidents in which Bowman was involved in altercations with Reps. Thomas Massie (R) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) as well as an incident in which Bowman pulled a fire alarm while Congress was in session.
Bowman was a former teacher and middle school principal first elected in 2020. Bowman ran on his record, saying he had delivered more than $1 billion in funding for the district since taking office. Bowman said Latimer had “been executive in the county for longer than I’ve been in office. Yet there are not enough resources and investments and time and attention paid to the parts of the district who are black and brown and progressive and marginalized.” Bowman said he was “a member of Congress who is present, refuses corporate donations and delivers results for our community. “
As of Jun. 21, 2024, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales, and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball each rated the general election Solid/Safe Democratic. Bowman defeated Miriam Flisser (R) 64.2%–35.7% in 2022.
All 435 seats are up for election. Republicans have a 218 to 213 majority with four vacancies. As of June 2024, 45 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election.
Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 71.8% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 27.2%.
New York conducted redistricting between the 2022 and 2024 elections. As a result, district lines in this state changed.
The United Democracy Project (UDP) is a super PAC affiliated with the pro-Israel lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Commission (AIPAC). UDP has contributed satellite spending in New York’s 16th Congressional District election in 2024.