Incumbent Jamaal Bowman (D) and George Latimer (D) are running in the Democratic primary in New York’s 16th Congressional District on June 25, 2024.
According to Spectrum News NY1, the “war between Israel and Hamas is a defining issue in the race.” The Washington Post describes Bowman as “one of the most outspoken critics of Israel’s military response to Hamas’s deadly terrorist attacks last fall.” The Post says that “pro-Israel groups have rallied behind Latimer and have vowed to spend millions unseating Bowman.” Bowman says Latimer is “running on famine. He’s running on the starvation of children supported by AIPAC and Netanyahu,” while Latimer says Bowman has “been in such obvious opposition to Israel for such a long time that it’s alienated people in the Jewish community.”
Bowman is a former teacher and middle school principal first elected in 2020. Bowman is running on his record, saying he has delivered more than $1 billion in funding for the district since taking office. Bowman says Latimer has “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 says he is “a member of Congress who is present, refuses corporate donations and delivers results for our community. “
Latimer is the Westchester County Executive and a former state legislator and marketing executive. He says 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 criticizes Bowman’s conduct in office, referencing incidents in which Bowman was involved in altercations with Reps. Thomas Massie (R) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) and an incident in which Bowman pulled a fire alarm while Congress was in session.
As of May 13, 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 217 to 213 majority with five vacancies. As of May 2024, 44 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%.