NY-16: It's Not Just AIPAC: How Jamaal Bowman Alienated Voters Who Once Supported Him

[Celerity]

22. Two years after the disastrous 2022 election, everyone has moved on. Maloney now has a cushy gig in Paris as the U.S.

ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Jones has moved back to the suburbs and is once again running to represent NY-17. He has rebranded himself as “pragmatic” instead of “progressive” in hopes of winning enough suburban support to unseat Lawler. The Republican congressman has attempted to paint Jones as a close ally of Bowman, who himself faces a strong primary challenge from Westchester County Executive George Latimer in NY-16. [

When Jones was asked a year ago whether he would endorse Bowman, he gave an evasive answer. “As Jamaal Bowman has shown time and time again, he does not need my endorsement to defeat his primary opponents,” Jones wrote in a text message at the time. “The suggestion that he does is offensive.”

On Tuesday, Jones took his strongest step yet to distance himself from Bowman, endorsing Latimer and harshly criticizing Bowman, who has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, for sowing “pain and anxiety” among Jewish New Yorkers. Aligning himself closely with Latimer, who has received more than $10 million from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC, may give Jones a boost in NY-17.

While there are still plenty of pictures of him and Bowman on the campaign trail together, Jones has now officially renounced any perceived allyship to the Squad – which has infuriated his erstwhile progressive allies. The Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, which had endorsed both Bowman and Jones, rescinded its endorsement of the latter. The state WFP, which has endorsed both Bowman and Jones, announced that it would pull all support from Jones’ campaign.