Progressives on AIPAC’s Defeat of Bowman: “Now We Know How Much It Costs to Buy an Election”
Progressives on AIPAC’s Defeat of Bowman: “Now We Know How Much It Costs to Buy an Election”
AIPAC poured almost $15 million into elevating challenger George Latimer over Rep. Jamaal Bowman in a New York primary election.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s Tuesday upset defeat by Westchester County Executive George Latimer generated many perspectives on what exactly precipitated his downfall.
“You don’t drop $15 million on an election if your positions are popular,” said Eva Borgwardt, national spokesperson for the Jewish advocacy group IfNotNow, which endorsed Bowman.
The amount of spending on the race should be alarming to everyone who cares about democracy, said Sophie Ellman-Golan, director of strategic communications at Jews for Racial and Economic Justice.
Bowman’s loss is not a death knell for progressives, he added, but proof that the left represents a threat to the status quo that’s worth tens of millions of dollars for its opponents.
“Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, and the Squad have always represented the mainstream positions of the Democratic Party, and that is why they’re such a threat to AIPAC and corporate interests.”
“It’s extremely concerning to not only see people defending the political conditions in which antisemitism is most likely to be fueled, but then decrying those of us who dare to speak out against this undemocratic purchasing of votes,” she said.
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The funny thing is that $15 million dollars is not a lot of money for some people. There are a hundred billionaires living in New York City and if $15 million could "buy an election" then at least a few of them would be doing it all the time. They don't do that because it doesn't work.
Bowman lost because he was genuinely unpopular in his own district. Being a leftist celebrity didn't help him much since most of the people he was popular with weren't actually eligible to vote for him.
Part of it was the money, and yes part of it was that there's been redistricting across NY state since he was last elected, his constituancy is now clearly more wealthy, right-wing and racist.
Democrats are working hard to push the party further to the right using the same kind of gerrymandering tactics that the GOP uses to capture whole states. Dems redistrict to keep things blue, but water down the voting power of the center left.