On Wednesday morning, educator Jamaal Bowman declared victory over longtime Rep. Eliot Engel in the Democratic primary for New York’s 16th Congressional District, asserting that his advantage “would be nearly impossible” for Engel to overcome when absentee ballots are counted next week. With 36,000 votes tallied, Bowman held a wide 61-36 lead, though because of a coronavirus-fueled surge in mail voting, many votes remain to be counted. Engel has not conceded and called Bowman’s declaration "premature."
Meanwhile, in two neighboring districts, candidates backed by a wide swath of progressive organizations and leaders were also winning closely watched primaries for seats where incumbents are retiring. In the 15th District, New York City Councilman Ritchie Torres was up 30-19 on Assemblyman Michael Blake, with notorious homophobic bigot Ruben Diaz Sr. in third with just 15% of the vote. And in the 17th, attorney Mondaire Jones was ahead of former prosecutor Adam Schleifer 45-21, with state Sen. David Carlucci, who for years helped Republicans control the state Senate, far back at 13.
If Bowman’s edge stands, it will complete a stunning upset in a race that crescendoed in the final weeks. While Engel, who chairs the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee, began as the heavy favorite, he was the subject of an unflattering—and widely shared—profile in the Atlantic in early May, which reported that he’d holed up in his D.C.-area home for the duration of the pandemic, not even returning to New York when the state's first coronavirus epicenter was identified in his district.
Things got worse weeks later when, on his first trip back to the district in months, Engel was caught on camera pleading for more time to speak at a press conference saying, “If I didn't have a primary, I wouldn't care,” a gaffe that Bowman and his allies quickly framed as a commentary on the congressman’s feelings about his race and his constituents. The blunder caught national attention and helped turbocharge Bowman’s fundraising, allowing him to keep pace with Engel during the campaign’s stretch run.
Bowman’s own journey to this moment was a remarkable one. He was raised by a single mother and lived in public housing, crediting rent stabilization policies for allowing his family to leave. He became a teacher in the Bronx and went on to found a new public school there and serve as principal, helping kids from circumstances like his own.
Bowman ran as a vocal progressive, supporting Medicare for All and rejecting corporate PAC money. He’d also spoken and written poignantly about his repeated mistreatment as a Black man at the hands of police, including his arrest—in front of his young son—for “stealing” his own car. That experience aligned him well with the newly invigorated nationwide movement challenging police brutality and demanding criminal justice reform.
Engel’s district, which straddles the Bronx and Westchester, had also changed considerably since he was first elected in 1988. While Engel, who is Jewish, originally represented a district that was majority white, it’s now very diverse, with a population that’s 37% white, 31% Black, 25% Latino, and 6% Asian American. If Engel loses, he will be the second House Democrat to do so this year, following Illinois Rep. Dan Lipinski.