July 3, 2024 12:00pm by David Farrar

The squad loses a member

George Latimer defeated New York Representative Jamaal Bowman in the most expensive congressional primary in US history, a race that exposed the stark divisions within the Democratic Party over the Israel-Hamas war.

Latimer, Westchester County’s top elected official, was leading Bowman by 55.8% to 44.3% with 71% of the votes counted in New York’s 16th Congressional district, according to the Associated Press.

Good.

Bowman’s standing may have been hurt by his sometimes bizarre behavior. He authored blog posts that appeared to give credence to 9/11 conspiracy theories. Last year he was charged with a misdemeanor after pulling a fire alarm in the US Capitol building as members of Congress were attempting to cast a vote. And his recent rally with Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders was held in the South Bronx, which isn’t in his district.

“It’s very hard for an incumbent to lose. And Congressman Bowman did everything possible” to make that happen, J.C. Polanco, a political analyst and professor of ethnic and race studies at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, said in an interview before the race was called. “His team committed incredible political malpractice.”

Here’s some of what Bowman has done or said:

Set off a fire alarm to delay a vote
Was one of 10 votes against a resolution supporting Israel after the 7 October terrorist attacks
Claimed allegations of rape of Israeli women by Hamas attackers was a lie
Promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories
followed an array of unhinged YouTube accounts that promoted everything from flat-earth content to claims about aliens and time travel to Chinese and Russian disinformation.
No longer supports a two state solution for Israel and Palestine (wants Jews as a minority in a Palestinian state)
Called his Democratic challenger an anti-Black racist