U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) — who recently suffered a crushing primary defeat in one of the most expensive congressional primaries of all time — is reportedly “begging for cash” in the weeks following his defeat, according to a report from the New York Post.
Bowman came up short against Westchester County Executive George Latimer in what ended up being the single most expensive race in Democratic primary history. The New York congressman came under significant pressure due to his pro-Palestine views and opposition to Israeli military operations in Gaza, leading to massive cash injections from pro-Israel groups.
One such group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, spent $14.5 million on the effort to unseat him.
Bowman has acknowledged the impact of the costly campaign and has condemned groups who played a role in his defeat in recent campaign emails. “AIPAC spent more money against us than any other House primary – ever. I was public enemy number one and they spent almost twenty millions dollars to stop us,” the outgoing congressman said in an August 14 campaign committee email.
“But that puts us in a bit of a predicament right now. After tallying up the spends, we’re ‘in the red.’ It would be an incredible help to our team if you could help us retire our campaign debt by chipping in a few dollars now,” the note continued.
The extent of the Bowman campaign’s debt is not fully known, though the campaign did burn through cash down the stretch. Over the final days of the primary cycle, the Bowman campaign spent more than $1.3 million on ad buys, FEC records show.
In total, Bowman spent $5.3 million on the race while Latimer’s campaign spent $5.6 million. As of July, Bowman’s campaign reported more than $373,000 cash on hand with debts of just over $141,000, according to his most recent Federal Election Commission filing.
Bowman is not the only “squad” Democrat who has been shown the door in the current primary cycle. U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) suffered a crushing defeat in her own primary race earlier this month, while Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) narrowly survived another tight primary challenge.
