Latimer to challenge Bowman in Congressional primary
December 6, 2023 at 11:23 p.m.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer will challenge Congressman Jamaal Bowman in the 16th District Democratic Congressional primary June 25, 2024.
Latimer made the formal announcement in a video distributed on the internet on Wednesday, Dec. 6.
But his intention to run against Bowman was telegraphed to the public Monday when word reached several news outlets, including The Journal News, that he had filed “federal paperwork to declare his candidacy and create a fundraising committee.”
That public disclosure of his federal filing took the edge off the presumed impact his Wednesday video announcement was supposed to create.
In the runup to that video, he held one-on-one meetings with media reporters in the District.
In the case of the Westmore News, he called this reporter last Friday evening and arranged for a Sunday afternoon, no- holds- barred, one- hour interview at the Rye Ridge Delicatessen.
No question was left unanswered as Latimer seemed at peace with his decision to enter a race which will get national attention and promises to be the most controversial and expensive in his multi-decade political career.
The dialogue ranged from differences with Bowman, to Latimer’s age, racial and religious makeup, experience, and what prompted him to decide to challenge Bowman in the primary at this stage of his life and career.
Latimer, who cannot run for a third term as County Executive due to a two-term limit law he himself supported, would be 72 years old should he win the primary and general election and be seated in Congress in January 2025.
Asked what someone his age would bring to Congress as a freshman representative, Latimer said:
“I wouldn’t expect to be a committee chairman. I wouldn’t expect to have any unique power that comes with time in grade. I understand what the limits are if you get to Congress. I also recognize that in the macro picture of the world, what is happening in Washington supersedes everything else. And right now, we’ve got a real problem in Washington. It’s hyper partisan. It’s an inability to work and talk together. It’s an inability to find common ground ...
In this society, you are never going to have one philosophy or another that will become so dominant as to wipe out the alternative. You have to find some ways to understand where you are in your disagreements in certain things and work together to go forward. If you’re going to advance affordable housing, if we are going to deal with economic issues that we have in the country, I will offer an alternative in the Democratic primary. It will be up to the Democratic voters to determine if the alternative I offer is better than the incumbent’s vision.”
Bowman prepares for Latimer, and vice versa
In a series of e-mails, Bowman has warned his followers of Latimer’s candidacy.
He e-mailed Dec. 1: “…we're building up the resources we need before my AIPAC-backed challenger jumps in our race. It's happening any day now -- but our movement is proving we have what it takes to hold our ground and win.”
Earlier, on Nov. 6, Bowman was more direct: “AIPAC just launched attack ads targeting me for supporting a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Their warmongering, right-wing billionaire, dark-money donors are terrified of our momentum as we call for peace and love!”
AIPAC is an acronym for American-Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Latimer’s response in the Westmore News interview:
“He’s not running against AIPAC. He’s running against me. My record on human rights is—I helped create the Human Rights Commission in Westchester. I did a series of executive orders that are anti-discriminatory—against racism, antisemitism, gender driven prejudice, anti-Asian hatred, anti-Muslim hatred, that’s what’s on the side of peace and love. We have invested money in Black maternal healthcare.”
Who takes what money
Latimer is both cognizant of and angry at Bowman’s charges—charges that will be widely circulated during the campaign:
“You have lots of different players who are interested in who sits in a seat in Congress. AIPAC is one of them. J STREET, which is another Jewish advocacy organization, endorsed Jamaal in the past, and he’s had no problem being endorsed by them nor taking their money.
He’s been endorsed by Justice Democrats in the past, which is a very far left group that has sponsored challenges to incumbent Democrats. The Squad, which he has joined, all came to power by running Democratic primaries. .... It’s a little hard to argue, oh, I’ve been backed by interests outside the District. I have primaried when I offered an alternative voice. But now, somebody else is offering an alternative voice, and he has support from outside the District, there’s something wrong with that?”
As for Bowman’s style, Latimer highlights what for him is a crucial difference between the two:
“We’ve lost our way in what it is to go to Congress, I think we’ve turned Congress into a performance show where getting on TV is the coin of the realm. Being bombastic. What you see tracked…shouting matches between legislators, let’s argue culture issues, but it expresses how I feel and my base feels that way.
A Congressman needs to establish first and foremost what their legislative priority agenda is, what they’re going to sponsor and co-sponsor and work to try to pass. What are you going to advocate … You have to advocate with specifics, not just bombastic speech. It’ll take me a couple of months. I’m not going to act on day one. If you ask me those environmental questions as County Exec, I’d tell you about taking diesel out of county buses. I’ll tell you about food scrap recycling…”
Latimer then recites, and will on the campaign trail, his multi decade record as a County Legislator, State Assemblyman, State Senator, and County Executive, a record and a face known to every voter in the 16th District north of the New York City border.
The contrast—in age, race, and demeanor
Latimer is acutely aware of how he will be portrayed by Bowman.
“Somebody might look at me: a 70-year-old White man who has been in public office for 36 years must be part of the Conservative establishment. That isn’t the case at all. I have to make sure that the things I believe in and who I am come through despite my demographic. I think the people who have seen me know me and know who I am and what I believe and that I’ve worked on issues that matter.”
He discussed how he made Memorial Field in Mt. Vernon new again was instrumental in creating a new Family Court site in New Rochelle and made public pools available in Yonkers.
As far as how he and Bowman might appear to voters…
“He’s a terrific speaker. I’m no shrinking violet. You’ve watched me over the years. I don’t raise my voice for show. I won’t be swallowed up by his personality. He’s not going to be swallowed up by my personality. If I lose, I am going to make a strong point. If I don’t win, at least I made the point. At least people know I’m as good a Democrat as you got in this County. I’ve been loyal, helpful, I’ve worked with Republicans, but I support my fellow Democrats. But I’m not afraid to support the mainstream Democratic position. I’m not the divider in this race. I’m not going to go to Washington to take my own opinion and stand in front of the White House. Bottom line: I don’t think the world is going to be better if Donald Trump is President. I think it will be a lot worse. And so now we have to make intelligent, rational moves and decisions and that’s what I hope to bring to the campaign. And we’ll see if I’m as good as my word. I’ve tried to be as good as my word to the greatest extent of my career, and we’ll see if I can back that up in this race.”
What was the pivotal moment
prompting Latimer’s decision to run?
While there’s been talk about Latimer challenging Bowman for months, the Westmore News asked if there was a pivotal moment that forced his hand.
“I can’t deny that what happened on Oct. 7 was impactful. Keep in mind I’m Roman Catholic, not Jewish. ... And now that I’ve come back from Israel, I saw some of this stuff up close and personal, the response that I thought should be the public response was not the public response.
Latimer was part of a delegation of Westchester County elected officials that went to Israel in late November. They inspected the physical aftermath of the Hamas Oct. 7 attack and on Nov. 28 met with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog.
Latimer’s assessment of the situation:
“There was an immediate attack on Israel for, in my judgment, responding to an attack on them. … I was frustrated when I watched the response to it. Did we shut down Grand Central Station because the Russians were bombing apartment buildings in Ukraine? Were we so outraged by the treatment of women and gays in Yemen that we decided to march across the Brooklyn Bridge? But in this particular case, the view of what’s happening in the Middle East is that Israel is bad and they’re violent and they’re killing Palestinians. It’s clear to me that Hamas has established itself as a terrorist organization and their explicit goal is to wipe out—exterminate—Jews.
Which makes me think that a free Palestine under Hamas is not going to be anything more than a larger base for terrorist action. So, when I watch the response to that, “you have taken hostages and must release those hostages.” If the mission is to get people back to the negotiating table, we have got to denounce violence. How can I negotiate with you when I know your mission is to kill me. No missiles coming in from Gaza, no bombs coming in from Israel. That’s the cease fire that is a just cease fire. And now we talk getting to a two-state solution which is going to be a long laborious process.
Netanyahu has not been an honest player in this game. He has played to the far right of the Israeli population that wants a single state solution, just like Hamas. When I was in Israel, I had the chance to talk to Yair Lapid (a former Israeli Prime Minister and leader of the opposition to Netanyahu’s government).… When I watched the response stateside, cease fire now, Hamas is ruling over Gaza. There’s no freedom there. You’re trying to get generations of youth who are being used to fight future wars.”
Latimer has a clear-eyed vision of the kind of Congressman he’d be—and it’s one that he insists is in his comfort zone.
“You’re not electing a secretary of state in the 16th CD. Right now, there’s general consensus between the Democratic and Republican mainstream to support Israel’s security, nudge them to a less aggressive war and a two-state peace process.
My attitude is that as a singular Congressman I would support that effort as it goes on...
What you have here now is a philosophy in a portion of the Democratic party which is anti-Israel. We can’t afford that mindset when right now what we need to do is get peace in the Middle East, and peace in the Middle East comes if Israel feels secure and can securely negotiate with an Arab presence that accepts their right to exist. Then two persons can negotiate.”
This is but the beginning of the Latimer-Bowman debate. It’s the first time Latimer is being heard in detail on Bowman’s beliefs and conduct in office since his election.
Between now and the Congressional primary, 16th District Democratic voters may find the debate between the two omnipresent and a form of litmus test on their political values.
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