Jamaal Bowman's primary results may spell trouble for other squad members

New Yorkers delivered a decisive message Tuesday when voters overwhelmingly rejected Rep. Jamaal Bowman in the most expensive House primary race in U.S. history.

Bowman, who represents parts of Westchester County and the northern half of the Bronx, is the first Democratic incumbent and first member of the progressive group of lawmakers known as "the Squad" to be booted from Congress this cycle.

But the lame-duck congressman may not be the last as left-leaning activists and organizations are regrouping from the intra-party scuffle to turn their attention to the west.

The upcoming Aug. 6 primary in Missouri will feature a Democratic primary challenge against incumbent Rep. Cori Bush, another sophomore lawmaker like Bowman who polls show is in a horserace that is seeing some of the same factors — opposition to Israel; strife with Biden; and non-ideological fumbles —that led to the New Yorker's 17-point beat down.

Bush is being challenged by St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell who has positioned himself as more moderate than her on a host of issues.

In a statement to USA Today, Bush praised Bowman as a "brother-in-service" and noted his work as a middle school principal. The 47-year-old congresswoman said the "same extremists" are targeting her district but that her constituents "will not be silenced or sold out."

"We will continue to fight for the future St. Louis deserves and show that organized people beats organized money," Bush said. "Because St. Louis is not for sale."

A new poll released June 25 found that Bell has caught up with Bush after trailing her by double-digits in January. Bush is now behind 43-to-42, which is a statistical tie, with 11% undecided.

"This is going to be a important fight and a close fight in Missouri," Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action, a Muslim American advocacy which supported Bowman, told USA Today on Wednesday.

"You're going to see another multiracial coalition, and hopefully large support for Cori," Alzayat added.

Fire alarm, district connections or anti-Israel: What toppled Bowman?

Political observers were quick to dissect Bowman's loss to Westchester County Executive George Latimer.

Among the activist left and others in the congressman's camp, most were quick to lay the loss at the feet of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. The United Democracy Project, a super PAC aligned with AIPAC, poured more than $7 million into the contest.

The group called attention to Bowman's record, such as voting against President Joe Biden's bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure law, and rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war.

"We should be outraged when a super PAC of dark money can spend (millions of) dollars to brainwash people into believing something that isn't true," Bowman said during his concession speech.

Latimer argued he was just as liberal as Bowman on a host of topics, but that the congressman was ignoring constituents who weren't Black or Hispanic. He outpaced the incumbent by more than $1.5 million in fundraising, according to campaign filings through the beginning of June.

Much of that difference was thanks to AIPAC's PAC, which facilitated millions of dollars in donations to Latimer.

Alzayat said it should alarm Democratic voters and leadership that a group connecting conservative donors with campaigns and has such influence in their primaries.

"It's become a vehicle for far right GOP, billionaires and funders to funnel their money to interfere in Democratic primaries to select more favorable candidates some within the Democratic Party," he said.

But Bowman's critics within the party say Tuesday's results were about larger issues, including the incumbent being out of touch with the district. Some pointed to other distractions, namely the congressman's censure for pulling a fire alarm in the Cannon House office building during a vote last September.

"Tonight middle school children who pull fire alarms (and) do it while denying rape as a weapon of war lost," former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Latimer support, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Bush, much like Bowman, has been an outspoken critic of how Israel has conducted the war, which has devastated Gaza and reportedly killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack.

And similarly, Bush faces an outside controversy after the U.S. Justice Department announced this year it is investigating whether the congresswoman misused campaign funds for her personal security. Bush has denied any wrongdoing.

Other members of "the Squad" have successfully stiff armed primary challenges rooted in the debate over the Israel-Hamas war, however.

In April, Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pennsylvania, coasted to victory in a primary battle where her opponent accused her of "stoking hatred" and "anti-Semitism." The district, which covers parts of the Pittsburgh area, is home to a large Jewish population and was the site of the deadly 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting.

But the key difference between Lee and Bowman's contests: AIPAC's PAC didn't raise money for her challenger and she didn't have additional baggage.

Thus far AIPAC's PAC has facilitated roughly $1.8 million in donations to Bell's campaign.

Justice Democrats, a PAC that criticizes U.S. aid to Israel, has raised close to $100,000 for Bush already this cycle through direct donations and "expect a pretty wide coalition on the independent expenditure side" with a "multi-million dollar coordinated effort," it's spokesperson, Usamah Andrabi, said.

AIPAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reporter Sudiksha Kochi contributed to this story. This story will be updated.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jamaal Bowman loses to Latimer. Will another squad member be next?