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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNY Times Endorses Jamaal Bowman for Congress NY-16
DISTRICT 16 (northern parts of the Bronx and southern half of Westchester County, including Mt. Vernon, Yonkers, New Rochelle and Rye):
The current representative Eliot Engel has been in Congress since 1989, and his connections to the district seem to have frayed.
He was criticized for not returning home even as the coronavirus raged through communities he represents, particularly New Rochelle. When he did return for this race, he was caught on a hot mic pushing for a chance to speak during a protest rally, saying, If I didnt have a primary, I wouldnt care.
His main challenger is Jamaal Bowman, an educator for more than 20 years and a fierce advocate for public schools. Mr. Bowman helped found a public middle school in the Bronx, the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, and promises to work for all of the district, including sections he says have been neglected during Mr. Engels time in Congress.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/opinion/new-york-congress-endorsements.html
Squinch
(50,955 posts)subscribe to the Washington Post.
And we are idiots if we elect a middle school principal with no political experience to replace the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and one of the first people in Congress to force the issue of Trump's impeachment.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Last edited Sat Jun 13, 2020, 07:57 AM - Edit history (1)
Even knowing the NYT, I was shocked to read this. They've clearly chosen to try to unseat a powerful Democratic chairman and flip his seat to the only possible non-Democrat (Family Values Party).
The only 2 excuses the NYT could come up with are almost stunningly thin and one actually phony. That this was what one of the most powerful investigative newspapers on the planet could come up with -- in their own town -- should be taken as strong evidence for reelecting Engel. They also hid how important Engel is in congress from their readers by not mentioning it.
Engel stayed working in DC and didn't come home to tell his constituents personally not to panic and to wear masks? Kick him out? They didn't say Ocasio's constituents, who are unhappy at being neglected and losing them tens of thousands of Amazon jobs!, should kick her out.
And the totally phony "scandal" about the chairman, implying he didn't care about the protests when he knew a dozen others were going to speak passionately in support, is effectively a nothing maliciously "misinterpreted" into a hostile smear Fox and Limbaugh style. The NYT!
Btw, I initially wondered if I'd missed something important about Mr. Bowman, a strong point suggesting he could become an asset to our house Democratic caucus, offsetting his troubling endorsement by anti- Democratic Party dissidents like Brand New Congress. Nope. His credentials as an educationist are just fine, but the mighty NYT came up with nothing for why voters should replace the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, with a freshman amateur.
jorgevlorgan
(8,300 posts)Bowman looks to be riding a wave of momentum up to the primary! Go Bowman!
oasis
(49,389 posts)institutions. Trump has done plenty damage and is not yet finished. Engel stays.
Meanwhile, Bowman can continue advocating for better education which he seems to do well. His time will come.