Colorado, New York, South Carolina and Utah held primaries and runoffs on Tuesday as states winnow the fields in competitive Senate and House races — among others — and offer voters previews of the contests ahead of November.
Coming to blows: Progressives suffered a major blow when Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), a member of the progressive “squad,” lost his Democratic primary in New York’s 16th Congressional District against Westchester County Executive George Latimer.
As Jared Gans broke it down last night, Bowman’s ouster from Congress wasn’t necessarily a surprise. But it underscored how the Israel-Hamas war has roiled congressional primaries. He was forced to defend himself against Latimer’s attacks over his record on Israel aid and previous comments where Bowman pushed back against reporting that Israeli women had been raped by Hamas on the initial day of the attack. Bowman later sought to walk back those comments.
Added to his woes, Bowman was censured by the House last year after footage showed him pulling a fire alarm during a key vote on government spending.
Bad blood: The pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) endorsed Latimer in the primary while the progressive Jewish group J Street withdrew their support from Bowman. The Democratic primary encouraged some members of the party to break ranks and endorse Bowman’s challenger too, like Hillary Clinton and former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.).
The 16th District leans heavily Democratic, making Latimer the heavy favorite in November.
Cue Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day”: Trump also saw a disappointing night when several of his picks lost their GOP primaries in Colorado, South Carolina and Utah. Colorado GOP chair Dave Williams, who enjoyed Trump’s endorsement, lost to Americans for Prosperity official Jeff Crank in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District.
More moderate Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) defeated Trump-backed Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs in the Senate GOP primary to replace retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah). Over in South Carolina, Trump’s preferred candidate pastor Mark Burns narrowly lost to nurse practitioner Sheri Biggs in the GOP runoff for the 3rd Congressional District.
Of course, not all of Trump’s endorsees lost — Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) is anticipated to be back in the next Congress after winning her GOP primary in Colorado’s safely red 4th Congressional District.
What are the next primaries on tap? Arizona congressional primaries and South Dakota primary runoffs on July 30.
