The county executive told The Washington Post in late October that the race could be a “proxy argument” between “the left and the far left.” The potential primary challenge comes as tensions rise within the Democratic Party about curbing U.S. support for Israel and the civilian death toll in Gaza after Hamas’s attack on the Jewish state Oct. 7. Latimer visited Israel last week but did not comment on his plans for 2024.
Representatives for Bowman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Bowman, 47, was an educator who ran in a Democratic primary in 2020 to challenge the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), a staunch defender of Israel. Bowman won, despite millions of dollars in ads from pro-Israel groups that supported Engel. According to a June 2020 letter by Bowman published in the Riverdale Press, the future congressman said he opposed the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement” aimed at seeking changes to Israeli policy and supported U.S. aid to the country so people there can “live in safety and peace, free from the fear of violence and terrorism from Hamas and other extremists.” He added, “I also believe that Palestinians are entitled to the same human rights, safety from violence and self-determination in a state of their own.”
Last month, Bowman told MSNBC, “It’s one thing to support Israel” but “it’s another thing to never hold Israel accountable for their behavior, whether it’s the occupation, the open-air prison that is Gaza, or the war crimes that are taking place right now during this siege.”
Bowman also became a target of right-wing ire after a September incident in which he pulled the fire alarm that forced the evacuation of the Cannon House Office Building as lawmakers scrambled to avert a government shutdown. He pleaded guilty to the charge of pulling a false fire alarm in late October. As part of a deal with the D.C. attorney general’s office, Bowman agreed to pay a $1,000 fine, give $50 to a crime victim’s compensation fund and, within two weeks, apologize in writing to the U.S. Capitol Police chief, according to court documents.
Other liberal House members facing a primary challenge in 2024 include Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Summer L. Lee (D-Pa.) The challenges come as President Biden and other Democrats face pressure from activists, as well as young voters and voters of color, over their handling of the war.
Protests demanding a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war follow almost anywhere Biden appears. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only Palestinian American member of Congress, was censured last month over her comments related to Israel’s actions in Gaza. And last week, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer warned in a Senate speech that antisemites are “taking advantage of the pro-Palestinian movement to espouse hatred and bigotry toward Jewish people” and that the animosity is being expressed by “people that most liberal Jewish Americans felt previously were their ideological fellow travelers.”
