The Democratic Primary Race
March 24, 2022
With the midterm elections looming, political incumbents and challengers are gearing up for a hard-fought campaign season. In our “State of the Race” series, the Jewish Political Guide will explore a variety of important battles that will shape the conversation in electoral politics. In the upcoming months, these races will afford a sneak peek into the candidate’s policy positions and agenda, and, most importantly, provide a glimpse into the makeup of the 118th Congress.
Increased political polarization has led to more and more candidates espousing controversial policy perspectives and points of view. On the left and on the right, we have seen candidates that cozy up with antisemitic extremists, as well as those that want to redefine the longstanding bipartisan support for Israel. As we approach relevant primary races that will be defined by some of these debates, our Jewish Political Guide will dissect the candidates’ positions and their differences on substance and approach.
Today we are focusing on New York’s 16th Congressional District.
New York’s 16th Congressional District – Democratic Primary Race
NY-16 was redrawn as part of the broader state redistricting process; however, it remains a solid Democratic stronghold. President Biden won the district by a margin of over 50% in 2020. Based on that year’s data, he would have won the redrawn district with a margin of 39.5%. Therefore, the primary will most likely determine who will represent the district in the 118th Congress.
Incumbent Representative Jamaal Bowman was first elected in 2020, after he defeated Rep. Eliot Engel, a pro-Israel stalwart and the then-Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in the Democratic primary. The then-candidate Bowman, who was endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Justice Democrats, was criticized for some of his expressed positions on issues affecting the Jewish community and Israel. Now, after two years in Congress, he has a track record on which he can be judged by his Jewish constituents.
Westchester County Legislator Vedat Gashi is the only remaining challenger to Rep. Bowman, after Manuel Casanova dropped out of the race and lent his endorsement to Gashi. In recent weeks, Gashi has aimed to position himself as a moderate candidate and to differentiate himself from Rep. Bowman on some important issues that matter to the Jewish community.
Read below about where the two candidates stand on some of these important issues.
- Abraham Accords
After initially co-sponsoring the Israel Relations Normalization Act, Rep. Jamaal Bowman withdrew support for this bipartisan bill that aimed to advance the Abraham Accords and the Israeli-Arab normalization process. When announcing the withdrawal of his support, Rep. Bowman argued that “the deals that this bill supports and seeks to pursue, have included deals at odds with human rights and safety for everyday people in the region.” Moreover, he believed that the “agreement to normalize relations unhelpfully isolates Palestine.”
Gashi criticized Rep. Bowman for withdrawing support from the Israel Relations Normalization Act, stating “this is a historic bill, and he [Bowman] voted against it.”
- U.S. Security Assistance to Israel
In September 2021, Rep. Bowman voted in support of the Iron Dome Supplemental Appropriations Act. This legislation provided $1 billion in appropriations so that Israel can replenish its Iron Dome air defense system to counter terrorist threats. The legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives 420-9 and Rep. Bowman broke in his vote with other members of the “Squad,” the majority of whom voted against the legislation.
Nevertheless, Rep. Bowman supports conditioning U.S. security assistance to Israel. He is a co-sponsor of the “Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israel Military Occupation Act,” legislation, introduced by Rep. Betty McCollum. Defending his support for the legislation, Rep. Bowman argued that “the bill calls for more transparency in terms of how the aid is being used.”
Having not served in Congress before, Vedat Gashi does not have a voting record on Israel-related legislations. However, he publicly stated in an interview with the Jewish Insider that he is in favor of continued U.S. security assistance to Israel, emphasizing the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Israel.
- Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement
Rep. Jamaal Bowman has not been explicit on his position on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, however, he traveled to Israel in November 2021 as part of a congressional delegation. His visit generated interest because he is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which supports and strongly advocates boycotting Israel. Following the trip, some DSA activists called for his expulsion, however, DSA’s leadership declared that they would not expel Rep. Bowman because he was someone who could still “play a vital role in the fight for Palestinian liberation.”
Vedat Gashi publicly expressed opposition to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel, and he argued that, by singling out of the Jewish state for censure, the movement had at times antisemitic undertones.
As we get closer to the June 28 primary election, we will continue to track the developments in NY-16. Stay up to date by signing up for our “State of the Race” dispatches.