Democratic Leaders Made Half-Hearted Effort to Save Jamaal Bowman From AIPAC’s Attacks
The most expensive Democratic House primary in history concludes Tuesday, as New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman fights to retain his seat despite massive spending from the pro-Israel lobby aimed at sidelining progressives in Congress.
Polls in the Bronx and Westchester close at 9 p.m., and results are expected Tuesday night. Polling in the race, including one funded by consultants working against Bowman, suggested that he was heading for a loss. Bowman’s internal polling showed him leading by 1 percentage point.
In total, outside groups have spent $23 million on the race to unseat Bowman. More than 60 percent of that money has come from one group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which poured more than $14 million into the race over the course of five weeks. In total, progressive groups backing Bowman spent $1.75 million on the race.
AIPAC’s spending funded ads that clogged TV spots in New York, as well as a barrage of mailers, text messages, and phone calls attacking Bowman and supporting his opponent, Westchester County Executive George Latimer. The expenditure — unmatched by any other single outside group spending on Democratic primaries this cycle and historically unprecedented — has turned the race into a referendum on the power of the pro-Israel lobby to oust progressives critical of Israel’s human rights abuses from Congress.
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Outside Groups Spent $285,000 Backing Jamaal Bowman. AIPAC Alone Just Dropped Nearly $2 Million to Attack Him.
AIPAC encouraged Latimer to run against........
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