FLASH: Incumbent Democrats Who Have Drifted Right HATE Primaries

I think primaries are really important and really democratic-- especially in one of the scores of districts where the only realistic accountability is through a primary challenge. Obviously, many incumbents hate them. Wouldn't it be nice to not have to worry about being accountable to the constituents! I might go for the idea, if "none of the above" was an option in every election. But, no incumbent is ever going to vote for that one!

Yesterday, defeated long-time-- and out-of-touch-- incumbent Eliot Engel (New Dem-NY), who was handily defeated by progressive reformer Jamaal Bowman, warned his House Democratic colleagues that primary opponents are the boogie man. He was furious that some of his colleagues supported Bowman against him. "I think that it's a very dangerous thing for party unity if members are going to start putting up primary challenges to other members in the same caucus. I think it's not something that should be done... Who is going to (be able to serve) in a caucus if there are people sitting right in there who want to get you defeated? I would be reluctant and other people would be reluctant to say what they feel. I just think it's not something I would do."

Bernie, Elizabeth Warren, AOC, Ayanna Pressley, Katie Porter were among the Dems who backed Bowman. Bowman beat him 30,709 (60.7%) to 18,012 (35.6%), although Engel raised $3,198,520 to Bowman's $2,315,175. As for independent outside spending, most of it was on behalf of Engel. By far, the biggest spender was AIPAC-related scumbags Democratic Majority for Israel financed by a few very rich, very right-wing conservatives-- Stacy Osterman of Sampson Energy in Tulsa, Gary Lauder of the Bay Area, lowlife Long Island real estate developer Milton Cooper. The group, which had earlier spent $1.4 million smearing Bernie, spent $646,155 smearing Bowman (and another $927,187 advertising in favor of Engel)-- $1,566,532 for Engel in all. The total amount spend on behalf of Engel by outside groups (conservatives including Republicans) was $2,213,885 and the total amount from outside groups (progressives) backing Bowman was $1,382,967.

In 1988, Engel himself was victorious in a Democratic primary against an incumbent congressman, Mario Biaggi, who had been convicted on racketeering charges a month before the primary.

I asked Alan Grayson, who has both primaries an incumbent and been primaries as an incumbent. "Well," he said, look at what the article said [about Engel primarying Biaggi in 1988]. "And before that, Charlie Rangel and Adam Clayton Powell.  And before that, Elizabeth Holtzman and Emanuel Celler.  And before that, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. The 'ins' want to stay in, and the 'outs' want them out.  Sometimes there’s more to it than that, and sometimes there isn’t. If you want to know what happened in Engel vs. Bowman, see the map:

Of course this doesn't happen just at the congressional level. Angie Nixon is running for a Jacksonville state legislative seat held by a fake Democrat. Kim Daniels, a notorious anti-Semite and right-winger who once famously gave a speech about the joys of slavery. Many people are shocked that the Florida Democratic Party supports Daniels... but those people aren't acquainted with the rot that afflicts the Florida Democratic Party. This morning Angie told me that "It’s important to challenge incumbents, especially when they aren’t doing their jobs. Over the past few years I have watched my community’s regression and it’s due to the lack of accountability of our current State Representative. The only time we’ve seen her was during campaign season when she’s giving away free stuff, basically buying votes. It’s time out for bandaids and it’s time for us to elect people that will work year round to produce systemic change." (Blue America has endorsed Angie and you can contribute to her campaign here.)

This cycle, on her second attempt, progressive reformer Marie Newman ousted reactionary Republican-lite Blue Dog Dan Lipinski, who was heavily backed by the Democratic establishment, while many of the same people who backed Bowman had backed her. "Primaries," she told me, "allow districts to always ensure their representative is in alignment on issues. It also allows for constituents to have options and select the best possible fit. Districts are like people they evolve and change. The representative in any district should do the same."

In California, where there are jungle primaries, several progressive Democrats will be facing Democratic incumbents in November. One is David Kim in Los Angeles, who is up against Jimmy Gomez. "When community-oriented, progressive challengers run for office in all-blue districts," David told me this morning, "it forces do-the-bare-minimum corporate incumbents like Jimmy Gomez to make good on the promises they made during their campaigns, or face losing their job when voters choose a new leader who does represent their interests. For example, when I started hosting town hall live streams after the first stay at home order, my opponent started doing the same. When my campaign started text banking to alert constituents to their options if they couldn't pay rent, my opponent once again followed suit. It's important that our elected officials be kept accountable and put on notice that they can be replaced if they don't do their jobs. If incumbents like Jimmy were working for a company, they would be fired in the first 90 days."

Blue America has just 2 House primaries against Blue Dogs left-- one in Nashville and one in Arizona's humongous 1st district. There are two truly awful GOP-lite Blue Dogs, Jim Cooper and Tom O'Halleran, trying to fight off, respectively, progressives Keeda Haynes and Eva Putzova. No big name Dems have jumped in to support either challenger. Blue America is trying to do what we can. Please use the 2020 Primary A Blue Dog thermometer above to give their campaigns a hand. Meanwhile, here's the new ad Blue America just started running in Nashville last night:

Last Night's Primary Election Results-- Wins And Losses

Ballots are still being counted almost everywhere. Kentucky has already announced that there will be no final vote count until June 30-- which is when the state's two biggest counties, Jefferson (Louisville) and Fayette (Lexington) plan to release their results. Both are considered strongholds for Charles Booker and not a single vote is in the preliminary totals, which represent the 2,005 counted precincts out of a statewide total of 3,685-- 54.41%. This morning Schumer's establishment candidate, Amy McGrath led progressive Charles Booker 27,668 (44.7%) to 22,564 (36.5%), with a second progressive, Mike Broihier a distant third with 3,900 votes (6.3%). As of June 3rd, Massie had raised almost $41 million to Booker's $788,525. She spent $21,492,634 to his $503,623.

The only other Kentucky contest worth noting was the Republican primary in the 4th district, 12 counties that go from the suburbs east of Louisville and south of Cincinnati right into coal mining country as far as the West Virginia border. Trump and the GOP DC Establishment made an attempt to replace independent-minded, libertarian incumbent Thomas Massie with extremist Trumpist robot Todd McMurtry. As of the last FEC deadline, Massie had spent $996,338 to McMurtry's $328,026. An ad hoc Trumpist SuperPAC called Civic PAC spent $132,500 smearing Massie. It didn't work and he has apparently won in a landslide. With 85.42% of precincts counted (463 out of 542) Massie has 16,801 (88%) votes to McMurtry's 2,300 (12%).

Before we get to New York, there were also some relatively sleepy contests in Virginia-- except one. Progressive champion Qasim Rashid beat Lavangelene Williams 21,768 (52.8%) to 19,469 (47.2%) in the first congressional district, an amalgam of 18 almost random counties from the exurbs of DC to the exurbs of Richmond plus James City and Fredericksburg city. Most of the voters live in very blue Prince William County, very red Hanover County and swingy Stafford County. The district PVI is R+8 but Trump just won it with 53.6% in 2016 and incumbent Rob Wittman was reelected last cycle with just 55.2% and could be ousted by Qasim in November.

Now, New York. Let's go through the congressional results district by district, although I want to begin with NY-14, the Bronx and Queens district won in 2018 by AOC. A transpartisan coalition-- funded largely by Wall Street-- backed a Wall Street Republican pretending to be a Democrat, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera and spent immense sums of money smearing AOC with an intensity and virulence no one ever sees in a Democratic primary. The voters weren't buying it and AOC kicked her ass, 27,103 (72.6%) to 7,254 (19.4%). Two vanity candidates drew almost 3,000 votes (close to 8%). Caruso-Cabrera can't switch back to the GOP and run as a Republican in November-- although she is evacuating her Queens apartment and moving back to Trump Tower-- so the GOP is running some guy named John Cummings. You can contribute to AOC's November campaign here.

NY-01 is eastern Long Island, most of Suffolk County and Democrats were vying to see who would take on GOP incumbent Lee Zeldin. There was some fear that the two moderately progressive candidates, Perry Gershon (who Zeldin beat in 2018, 51.5% to 47.4%) and Nancy Goroff, would split progressive votes and allow a more conservative Democrat, Bridget Fleming to win the nomination. Instead, there's an incredibly tight race for number one between Gershon and Goroff, that is unlikely to be decided 'til every last vote is counted and, probably, recounted. As of this morning with all 473 precincts counted:

• Perry Gershon- 5,166 (35.5%)
• Nancy Goroff- 5,022 (34.4%)
• Bridget Fleming- 4,062 (27.9%)
• Gregory-John Fischer 322 (2.2%)

NY-02, the south shore Long Island district that includes parts of both Nassau and Suffolk, should have been a hotspot election... but wasn't. Peter King announced her retirement and Republican Andrew Garbarino will run in his place. The DCCC picked Jackie Gordon-- a typical DCCC pick-- as their candidate and she beat Patricia Maher, who has run unsuccessfully against King before. Sleepy race and Gordon, predictably won with about 73% of the vote (374 precincts out of 524 counted-- about 70%).

The north shore district, which includes some of Suffolk County and a tiny bit of Queens is mostly Nassau and the incumbent is New Dem Tom Suozzi. With just 45.6% of precincts accounted for, he seems to have beat back a weak challenge from the left by Melanie D'Arrigo, 58.9% to 32.7%. It's considered a swing district but Suozzi is an effective and popular congressman and is likely to beat Republican George Santos by something like 60-40% as he did in 2018 against Republican Dan DeBono.

One of my big disappointments of last night was Gregory Meeks' apparent win over Democratic Socialist Shan Chowdhury, although as of this morning, only 39 of 492 precincts have been counted. Predictably-- Meeks being the Queens County machine boss-- NY-05 was the capital of voter suppression and election fraud. I spoke with Shan this morning and his lawyers are investigating how Meeks was able to steal the election and what they can do about it.

The next district with a seriously contested primary was NY-09 a Brooklyn district stretching from Sheepshead Bay to eastern Park Slope, with Prospect Park, Brownsville, Brooklyn College, Flatbush, part of Midwood and Crown Heights in between. Yvette Clarke has one of the most progressive voting records in Congress-- and the second most progressive of any New Yorker in Congress (even higher on the ProgressivePunch list than AOC!) but was primaried from the left again. Grassroots super-progressives Adem Bunkeddeko and Isiah James took about 27% of the vote between them. With all 532 precincts reporting, Clarke was reelected with 62.3%.

In the 10th district (incongruously Manhattan's West Side and Brooklyn's most Hasidic neighborhoods) Jerry Nadler beat back two opponents, an internet progressive and a gay Zionist, former Andrew Yang staffer, to win with 61.8%.

Tragically, odious Blue Dog Max Rose had no primary opponent in the Staten Island, south Brooklyn 11th district. The NRCC chosen candidate, Nicole Malliotakis, won the Republican primary with 70.4%.

In the 12th district there is an incredibly tight race that will probably be finalized next week. Wall Street shill Carolyn Maloney may be defeated by Suraj Patel in this Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens district.

NY-15 in the South Bronx was a real clustefuck on several levels. Longtime progressive incumbent Jose Serrano decided to retire, triggering a complicated primary with a dozen candidates, each appealing to a narrow segment of the population. The common enemy was pretend Democrat Ruben Diaz, Sr., an anti-Choice, homophobic sociopath and Trump supporter and there was tremendous anxiety that the more progressive candidates would split the vote and elect Diaz, who has the most name-recognition in the district. With all 490 precincts counted, this is how the top vote getters fared:

The most closely-watched race in the state was for the Bronx-Westchester district where incumbent Eliot Engel was the designated Joe Crowley of 2020 and faced off against progressive reformer Jamaal Bowman. The most corrupt of the Democratic establishment backed Engel-- Hillary Clinton, Andrew Cuomo, Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bob Menendez, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff as well as the DCCC, and a pack of sleazy local politicians. Jamaal was endorsed by virtually every progressive organization in the country as well as by Bernie, AOC, Elizabeth Warren, Ayanna Pressley, Katie Porter, Zephyr Teachout, Marianne Williamson and progressive state legislators Alessandra Biaggi and Jessica Ramos. With 91.5% of the precincts in, Jamaal won 21,851 (60.9%) to 12,769 (35.6%), an ignominious finish to Engel's career as Netanyahu's top shill in the House. This was Jamaal's statement this morning:

From the very beginning, we anchored our campaign in the fight for racial and economic justice. We spoke the truth-- about the police, about systemic racism, about inequality-- and it resonated in every part of the district.

Many doubted that we could overcome the power and money of a 31-year incumbent. But the results show that the people of NY-16 aren’t just ready for change-- they’re demanding it.

We brought people together across race, across class, across religion, across gender, to fight for justice, to fight for equality, and to fight to create a country that works for all of us. We didn’t let them divide us. And we did it all without accepting a dime from corporate PACs or lobbyists.

The world has changed. Congress needs to change too. But if we can take on entrenched power and wealthy interests here in Westchester and the Bronx, then we can do it all across this country.

I’m a Black man who was raised by a single mother in a housing project. That story doesn’t usually end in Congress. But today, that 11-year old boy who was beaten by police is about to be your next Representative.

I cannot wait to get to Washington and cause problems for the people maintaining the status quo.

Just north of NY-16 is the 17th, also in Westchester plus Rockland County. The incumbent Pelosi-ally is retiring and Mondaire Jones, the most progressive candidate running, had already declared he would primary her. Instead he beat a pack of corporate big money Dems and right-wing state Senator David Carlucci. Mondaire is black and gay and progressive, not the profile anyone would have predicted for the 17th.

In Syracuse, NY-24 nominated progressive Dana Balter by a wide margin (64.5% to 35.5%) over conservative Democrat Francis Conole. In the Rochester district (25), conservative New Dem won renomination against progressive challenger Robin Wilt, who picked up 35.2% of the vote.

And the open 27th in western New York, between the suburbs of Buffalo and the suburbs west of Rochester, had a special election to fill the open seat left behind by Trump ally Chris Collins when he was found guilty on multiple economic fraud charges. An heir to a fortune, Republican Chris Jacobs beat Democrat Nate McMurray but the two will face off again in November's general election, when McMurray is thought to have a better chance to win. You can contribute to Nate's general election campaign-- and to the general election campaigns of Mondaire Jones and Jamaal Bowman-- by clicking on the 2020 Blue America congressional thermometer on the right.

One last thing: there was a special election primary runoff in North Carolina yesterday where 24 year old new-comer Madison Cawthorn defeated Lynda Bennett for the GOP nomination to replace Trump's latest chief of staff, Mark Meadows. Both Meadows and Trump had endorsed Bennett. Cawthorn will now face retired Air Force Col. Moe Davis, the Democratic nominee in the heavily Republican district (PVI is R+14, the reddest in the state, and Trump won the district in 2016 with 57.2%). And, yes, he's a total Trumpist.

A Republican soon-to-be congressman (right)

What Will Congress Do About Annexation?

Historically, AIPAC has been aligned with the Democratic establishment-- and when progressive elements have rebelled and demanded even-handed policies towards Palestine, AIPAC has been able to successfully full smear campaigns-- unrelated to Israel-- against them and replace them with more malleable members of Congress. AIPAC, for example, destroyed the political careers of both Earl Hilliard (D-AL) and Cynthia McKinney (D-GA). Fear of AIPAC has kept Democrats in line. On Friday, The Forward wondered aloud if that is now over: AIPAC's Biggest Democratic Allies Break Ranks To Publicly Oppose Israeli Annexation.

It's worth mentioning that not all of AIPAC's biggest allies have broken ranks. Netanyahu's #1 ally in the House, Eliot Engel, chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee-- in the midst of a red-hot primary into which AIPAC is funneling over a million dollars for Engel-- has been silent. "Top congressional Democrats," wrote Aiden Pink, "have issued multiple public statements Thursday and Friday expressing their opposition to Israel’s plan to annex part of the West Bank. The pro-Israel organization AIPAC has publicly expressed its opposition to such statements, but some of the signatories include the lobby’s most prominent and longstanding Democratic allies."

Lockstep AIPAC shills Chuck Schumer, Bob Menendez and Ben Cardin released a joint statement opposing annexation:

As strong and dedicated supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship, we are compelled to express opposition to the proposed unilateral annexation of territory in the West Bank.

A sustainable peace deal that ensures the long-term security of Israel and self-determination for Palestinians must be negotiated directly between the two parties. Real diplomacy via direct negotiations, while an arduous road, is the only path for a durable peace. For that reason it has consistently been the long-standing, bipartisan policy in Congress to oppose unilateral action by either side. Unilateral annexation runs counter to those longstanding policies and could undermine regional stability and broader US national security interests in the region.

We are committed to sustaining a US-Israel relationship based on shared democratic values and our important security assistance partnership. We are also committed to continuing to engage Israelis and Palestinians to find ways to live together with peace, freedom, security and dignity and achieve a two-state solution.

Netanyahu has been threatening to unilaterally begin the process of proclaiming sovereignty over parts of the West Bank in two weeks. Trump and Pompeo are encouraging him. 115 House Democrats sent their own letter, authored by Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Ted Deutch (D-FL) and David Price (R-NC)-- all mayor Israel supporters-- to Netanyahu, Gantz and Ashkenazi last week.

We write as American lawmakers who are long-time supporters, based on our shared democratic values and strategic interests, of Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship. We firmly believe in, and advocate for, a strong and secure Jewish and democratic State of Israel, a state able to build upon current peace treaties and expand cooperation with regional players and the international community. We have consistently endorsed the pursuit of a negotiated peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians resulting in two states for two peoples and a brighter future for the Israeli people and the Palestinian people. In that vein, we write today to express our deep concern that the push for unilateral annexation of territory in the West Bank after July 1st will make these goals harder to achieve.

Longstanding, bipartisan U.S. foreign policy supports direct negotiations to achieve a viable two-state solution that addresses the aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians, and their desire for long-term security and a just, sustainable peace. This position was twice reconfirmed by the U.S. House of Representatives last year. Our fear is that unilateral actions, taken by either side, will push the parties further from negotiations and the possibility of a final, negotiated agreement.

We remain steadfast in our belief that pursuing two states for two peoples is essential to ensuring a secure, Jewish, democratic Israel able to live side-by-side, in peace and mutual recognition, with an independent, viable, de-militarized Palestinian state.

Unilateral annexation would likely jeopardize Israel’s significant progress on normalization with Arab states at a time when closer cooperation can contribute to countering shared threats.  Unilateral annexation risks insecurity in Jordan, with serious ancillary risks to Israel. Finally, unilateral annexation could create serious problems for Israel with its European friends and other partners around the world. We do not see how any of these acute risks serve the long-term interest of a strong, secure Israel.

As committed partners in supporting and protecting the special U.S.-Israel relationship, we express our deep concern with the stated intention to move ahead with any unilateral annexation of West Bank territory, and we urge your government to reconsider plans to do so.

Pink wrote that "The list of 115 signatories 'runs the gamut from J Street Democrats to AIPAC Democrats,' a Democratic congressional source told Jewish Insider. Other members of Congress are reportedly expected to sign on before the letter is released to the public next week. The large number of AIPAC allies is surprising considering the lobby’s opposition to the letter. 'We have not taken a position on annexation,' an AIPAC spokesperson told Haaretz. 'However, we do not support this letter. It publicly criticizes Israel for potentially deciding upon a policy that would only be adopted with the approval of the U.S. government, it fails to reaffirm America’s full commitment to Israel’s security assistance, and it focuses only on what it sees as inappropriate Israeli behavior, while failing to note that Palestinian leaders have been unwilling to return to the negotiating table for nearly a decade.'"

A similar letter signed by 19 Democratic senators, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, was released two weeks ago. Individual Democratic senators, like Kamala Harris, have also written personal letters of their own to Netanyahu expressing their views.

“As the United States has repeatedly made clear, unilateral moves by either party, such as annexation, put a negotiated peace further out of reach,” wrote Harris, who is considered a leading contender for the Democratic vice presidential nomination. “Both Israel and the Palestinians must avoid unilateral moves in order to preserve prospects for an eventual peace.”

And how does Biden feel about annexation? He seems opposed, at least tepidly. One of his foreign policy advisors, Nicholas Burns-- an under secretary of state under George W. Bush-- told an Israeli foreign policy magazine that annexation "would greatly harm Israel, internationally and among its strongest supporters" and that annexation "is the one issue which could most harm the U.S.-Israel relationship."

Trump's foreign policy has been disjointed and chaotic... often influenced by bad actors with skin in the game happy to offer the notoriously corrupt Trump what amounted to bribes. Sunday night former national security advisor (#3), John Bolton, shared his thoughts about the disaster that is Trump with Martha Raddatz, just hours after announcing that he plans to vote for Joe Biden in November.

I Wonder Where Eliot Engel Is Today-- And So Do His Constituents!

Old school New Dem Eliot Engel has been weathering the pandemic in the wealthy suburban neighborhood where he lives-- in Maryland-- and leaving the residents of his hard hit district-- which includes part of the Bronx and the three cities in Westchester with the highest number of COVID cases-- on their own. Last week Edward-Issac Dovere blew the whistle on Engel in an embarrassing piece at The Atlantic,, Why This Democrat Won’t Go Home

A member of Congress since 1989, Engel is facing his first serious primary challenge in years, in a district next door to the one where Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated another longtime incumbent in a primary two years ago. Yet Engel hasn’t been in his district since at least the end of March, according to his communications director, Bryant Daniels. The congressman himself told me that he has been in New York, after I covered my nose and mouth and rang his doorbell in Potomac, Maryland.

“I’m in both places,” Engel said.

“You are?” I asked.

“I sure am,” he said.

“You’ve been quarantined in both places?”

“Sure have.”

Daniels later told me, “He’s remained in Washington since passage of the CARES Act.” The CARES Act passed on March 27. When I pressed for when Engel was last in the district, Daniels stopped responding.

Few congressional districts in America have seen more COVID-19 infections and deaths than Engel’s.

Yesterday, the Bronx had 109 new cases and Westchester had 81 . The day before that the Bronx had 108 new cases and Westchester had 71. Not good news. Does Engel even care? Or does he just concern himself with what's going on in internal Israeli politics and how that impacts his one and only real constituent, Benjamin Netanyahu? (Israel had 116 new cases yesterday and 98 the day before.)

Yesterday, Shane Golmacher reporting for the NY Times wrote that at a press conference Tuesday Engel was caught on a live mic twice saying what plenty of people in his district have known for years: "If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care."  

[B]efore the news conference began, Ruben Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president and organizer of the event, ran through the list of planned speakers to the assembled politicians. The microphone was already broadcasting.

“I cannot have all the electeds talk because we will never get out of here,” Mr. Diaz said.

Mr. Engel pressed his case for a turn. “If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care,” he said, repeating, “If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care.”

First elected to Congress in 1988, Mr. Engel, who is the chairman of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, will face voters again in New York’s primary elections on June 23. His opposition began to consolidate this week as one of his leading rivals, Andom Ghebreghiorgis, dropped out and endorsed Jamaal Bowman, a Bronx school principal.

Jamaal has also been endorsed by Blue America and you can contribute to his campaign by clicking on the 2020 congressional thermometer on the right. Questioned by Goldmacher, Jamaal said Engel's comments were "painful to watch.... We need to be taking care of our communities right now-- whether it's election season or not. It's clear that we need new leadership in NY-16." A Bowman staffer told him Tuesday had been its single biggest fund-raising day of the campaign, with more than 1,000 donations in about three hours.




I bet Engel wishes he had stayed home in Maryland! I wonder if he voted in the Maryland primary yesterday; probably not.

Jamaal Bowman-- The Bronx Could Wind Up With The Most Great Members Of Congress Anywhere In America

The district just north of AOC's-- NY-16-- is solidly blue with a PVI of D+24. Trump only managed to attract 22.5% of the voters. And yet, the district's Rep. is a long-in-the-tooth fossil who does far more for the Likud Party in Israel than for the people in the Bronx and Westchester. Eliot Engel is a New Dem in a district that is far more progressive than he is. And this cycle he has drawn one of the highest calibre primary opponents anywhere in the country-- Jamaal Bowman, who has just been endorsed by Blue America.

When Jamaal, a middle school principal in the Bronx, declared his candidacy in June, Emily Cochrane reported for the NY Times that "the contest could serve as a key test of whether liberal insurgent groups can convert a surge of energy on the left into successful challenges of members of the Democratic Party establishment." But Jamaal is a real candidate, not someone's idea of a test case. A local education-oriented website, Chalkbeat, wrote that he's "counting, in part, on his 20 years of experience in education to appeal to voters. Long before throwing his hat in the political rink, Bowman started the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, or CASA, a middle school that has produced notable academic results despite serving mostly disadvantaged students. He has been a vocal supporter of the opt-out movement boycotting state testing, especially within the black community. Bowman has also pushed for discipline reform, favoring restorative practices such as mediation in his school, rather than suspensions, which are disproportionately meted out, city data shows, to students of color. He’s also a big believer in the importance high-quality, early childhood care and education. A favorite word of Bowman is ‘holistic’-- an approach he likes to see in schools and one he’d like to see in government.'What I wish Congress would do more of is take a holistic view of policy overall,' he said."

While we were getting to know Jamaal during the Blue America endorsement process, I asked him to introduce himself to DWT readers with more about what he hopes to accomplish in Congress. Please take the time to read it (below) and consider chipping in to his campaign if you think Congress can use a man like this. You can contribute by clicking on the 2020 congressional primary thermometer above. At a time when congressional Republicans are seriously discussing cutting $5 billion out of the health and education budget to fund Trump's preposterous monument to his own racism and xenophobia, the response from Democratic voters in NY-16 should be loud and clear: Jamaal Bowman.

While America Boasts Being The Richest And Most Powerful Country In The World...
by Jamaal Bowman

During the 2017-2018 school year, thirty-four children attending Bronx public schools passed away. Seventeen of the deaths were attributed to suicide. One child, fearing that her mom was going to be deported, committed suicide because she couldn’t bear the burden of losing her mother. At the start of the year, less than a mile away from my school, two children were stabbed to death. One murder occurred inside of a classroom, the most sacred place in a school. The second murder occurred during an outdoor lunch break after a conflict started within the school. A third child after being a victim of a reported sexual assault, rushed home after school, took the elevator to the top floor of her building, and jumped off the roof.

A few of these stories made one or two new cycles. Not one elected official made a public statement about a crisis involving our children. And after a few days, it was business as usual in our public schools. While these tragedies will impact the families forever, the memory of these events are too swiftly removed from the American consciousness.

The horrific incidents described above do not illustrate a problem within our public schools. Rather, they are indicative of a country at war with itself. The most vulnerable among us are being crushed by crippling racism, sexism, and inequality. We cannot have business as usual when our children are killing themselves and each other. This situation is unacceptable and untenable, and an urgent response is needed.

I am running for Congress because while America boasts being the richest and most powerful country in the world, millions of children and families continue to suffer. It is way past time for our representatives in Washington, to put children, families, the elderly, and the poor at the top of the political agenda. For too long we have allowed corporate greed to dictate our federal policy at the expense of the majority of Americans. Policies like Citizens United, the repeal of Glass-Steagall, and tax breaks for fossil fuel and pharmaceutical companies among others, are literally killing the American people. We are complicit in allowing the financially wealthy to wield incredible power and influence throughout the political arena. This has to stop now!

In order to stop the continued economic and psychological oppression of the masses. We, as Americans, have to reckon with our history and build a new nation that works for all of us.

I have had the privilege of being an educator for the past twenty years. I started my career as an elementary teacher in the south bronx for five years. I went on to become a guidance counselor at high school for three years. After one year of administrative training, I became the founding principal of Cornerstone Academy for Social Action middle school. We educators experience the injustice that our children have to live with on a daily basis. Our students live in communities that have been starved of resources. There are not enough parks, museums, and libraries for cultural enrichment. Many of our kids live in food deserts, where it is impossible to find organic healthy food options. There’s little wonder why the obesity epidemic disproportionately impacts poor communities of color. Combined with a housing and environmental crisis, and aggressive police tactics, and our children are living with Ongoing Traumatic Stress Disorder (OTSD).

Over the last 30 years my district has been represented by Eliot Engel. Congressman Engel is a corporate democrat who has said that those on the left are “not his cup of tea.” His record proves this point. The majority of his fundraising comes from super PACs representing the real estate, pharmaceutical, and military industries. He supported the war in Iraq, opposed the Iran deal, loosened regulations on Wall Street, and voted for the 1994 crime bill. While Issues of poverty, housing, and addiction continue to cripple his district, congressman Engel supports policies that neglect the majority of his constituents. It should not be a surprise to learn that only 9% of the electorate voted in the 2018 primary, and why the majority of people we speak to in the district  either do not know who congressman Engel is, or do not ever see him.

During my opponent’s tenure, mass incarceration has dramatically increased, public housing has experienced a 30 billion dollar shortfall, teachers unions are under attack, public schools are chronically underfunded, and strategically being replaced by charter schools, and jobs and career development opportunities are scarce. Finally, over the last 30 years real wages have been stagnant, while child care, health care, housing and education costs have skyrocketed.

My opponent’s record directly coincides with these atrocities. He, and many others in Washington, are accountable for these dismal results.

It’s time for new leadership and a new vision for the district. A leader that will fight to build new public housing that is dignified, clean, well maintained and safe. This new public housing will be powered by green technology, have open green spaces for community events and sports, parks to play in and community centers for collective learning, organizing, and development. This new public housing will be forever rent stabilized and will provide community land trusts options that allow for each tenant to own a small stake in the residential and commercial real estate that is part of the land trust. Our new green public housing will be a major component of a Green New Deal.

Another pillar of this new vision is tripling the federal investment of public education and building and creating new community schools. Our community schools will have healthcare and education working together to provide holistic support to children and families. From pre-natal care through college, medical professionals and educators will work collaboratively  to decrease toxic stress and chronic trauma on families, while building resilient, innovative communities of joy. As we fight for Medicare for All, we will ensure that all Americans, including the most vulnerable, have their healthcare needs taken care of at the point of delivery including care for our elderly, as well as mental health and dental services.

Further, our vision for criminal justice reform includes ensuring that job readiness, career opportunities, and safe places for children to play and learn are a priority in our neighborhoods. Most of the people incarcerated struggled in school, and come from communities with a dearth of resources. We will invest in giving our children and young adults opportunities to thrive. So that the historical neglect of our government does not continue to plague them.

The recruiting and training of cultural responsive peace officers are another component of our criminal justice reform mission. These peace officers will be of and from the community and will specialize in de-escalation, trauma-informed counseling and community policing. They will also be trained in culturally responsive practices that work collaboratively with community residents to dismantle systems of oppression while empowering residents to have the most meaningful voice in community based decisions.

Another key component of our vision for  criminal justice reform involves the legalization of marijuana. We must release and expunge the records of those with marijuana convictions and use the tax revenue generated from marijuana to reinvest in communities that have been most harmed by the so-called war on drugs. Let us rebuild what has been destroyed by marijuana injustice and fight to keep other illegal drugs and guns from entering the community in the first place.

Finally, our criminal justice reform vision includes closing private prisons, ending cash bail, banning the box, ending solitary confinement and dramatically increasing education programs in our jails.

Throughout my career, I have worked with parents and community based organizations to deconstruct education policies and practices rooted in racism and classism. We have organized around the unscientific practices of using corporate standardized tests in the evaluation of teacher effectiveness, and won an important victory of a moratorium on connecting teacher performance to student test scores. We have also fought for increase public education funding that led to record increases in historically neglected communities. We have made great progress related to education funding, but there is a lot more to do. We have also fought to ensure that our schools hire more teachers of color and become more culturally responsive overall, which led to the New York City Department of Education adopting historic culturally responsive measures in our schools. As the congressional representative for New York’s 16th district, I will continue to fight against oppression and discrimination in all its forms, starting with getting big money out of policitics and reinvesting our wealth in the needs of the majority of American people,

It’s time to vote out Democrats who are compromised by corporate greed and special interests and replace them with true democrats who are accountable to the people. We have seen the dangers of this compromise. We now have a  demagogue occupying the White House and a rise in hate across the globe. I do not and will never take a single cent from corporate PACs. If I am fortunate enough to be elected my job will be to work for and with the American people over the needs of the wealthy few. I am excited to be part of the true blue progressive movement that is happening in our country. I look forward to the privilege of continuing to do my part.

Likudnik Eliot Engel Hasn't Been Looking Out For The Folks In The Bronx And Westchester-- And Now He Has A Primary

Late Monday night, Cenk Uygar from Justice Democrats announced that his group would be rockin' the world on Tuesday and warned the Democratic establishment to "brace for impact. Justice is coming..." I knew that meant there was going to be another candidate announcement. When I woke this morning I found out about Jamaal Bowman, a Westchester County (Yonkers) middle school principal and found his TED Talk (above). What a candidate!

He's challenging long-in-the-tooth Democratic stalwart, Eliot Engel, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, someone who seems to serve Israel's Likud Party more than the residents of New York's 16th district. The district, which borders on AOC's, is solidly blue-- PVI is D+24 and Hillary beat Trump 75.1% to 22.5%. It includes much of the northern Bronx (Riverdale, Fieldston, Eastchester, Woodlawn) and southern Westchester County (Yonkers, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, up through Larchmont, Mamaroneck and Rye in the east and Scarsdale and Hastings-on-Hudson in the north.). The ethnic make-up is 38.1% white 30.5% African-American, 24.1% Latino and 4.8% Asian-American.

Emily Cochrane wrote in the NY Times that "the contest could serve as a key test of whether liberal insurgent groups can convert a surge of energy on the left into successful challenges of members of the Democratic Party establishment." Engel is a relatively liberal member of the corrupt, corporately owned-and-operated New Dems. ProgressivePunch rates his crucial vote score a C, although-- sensing a primary was coming, Engel has voted 100% progressive so far this cycle, as progressive as Barbara Lee, Raul Grijalva, Jan Schakowsky, Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley and... AOC. He's co-sponsoring Pramila Jayapal's Medicare-for-All bill, Bobby Scott's $15 minimum wage bill, John Larson's Social Security 2100 Act and AOC's Green New Deal resolution. The only one of the controversial big progressive bill's he's not co-sponsoring is Lloyd Doggett's prescription drug price reduction bill. His problem though is foreign policy, where his record-- and leadership-- is not considered progressive at all. His racist-tinged disrespect for Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar haven't been forgotten by progressives either.

Mr. Bowman becomes the second liberal challenger to Mr. Engel this year, but the first New York primary candidate to be endorsed by Justice Democrats, the grass-roots group that helped fuel Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning defeat last year of Joseph Crowley of New York, the No. 4 Democrat in the House at the time.

“I’m inspired by all of the new lifestyles injected into Congress and the new ideas,” said Mr. Bowman, who will run against Mr. Engel, a 16-term incumbent who serves New York’s 16th Congressional District, and Andom Ghebreghiorgis, a teacher who, like Mr. Bowman, has vowed to pursue progressive policies, including “Medicare for all,” the Green New Deal and changes to public education.

“I’ve been in education now for 20 years, spending most of my years in the Bronx, working with families who are struggling, are in many different areas from poverty, health care, mental health issues, asthma from pollution and so on,” said Mr. Bowman, who helped found the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action in New York. “Many of their struggles come from policy that begins in Washington.”

Mr. Bowman plans to emphasize Mr. Engel’s support for the Iraq war and acceptance of donations from lobbyists and political action committees in making his case that Mr. Engel is too moderate for New York’s diversifying 16th District, which includes parts of the Bronx and Westchester County and is overwhelmingly Democratic.

In a statement this year, Mr. Engel had praised the party’s “new energy.” But, he added, “I think we’re doing the people we represent and the country a disservice by focusing on 2020 primaries when we have so much to do right now in Washington.”

Members of Justice Democrats-- who have worked for months to prepare both Mr. Bowman and Jessica Cisneros, who is challenging Representative Henry Cuellar, Democrat of Texas-- are quick to draw parallels between Mr. Crowley and Mr. Engel.

“As someone who has built a public school from the ground up and served his community and students for many years, we are so honored to endorse Jamaal Bowman for Congress,” said Alexandra Rojas, the organization’s executive director. “Our grass-roots movement shocked the country last year with A.O.C.’s upset victory, and we are prepared to do it again in New York’s 16th District.”

Mr. Engel, whose more than 30 years in Congress began after he unseated a popular incumbent, is one of the most powerful incumbents in the Democratic House majority facing a primary election challenger. In 2018, Mr. Engel defeated three of them, with nearly 74 percent of the vote.

The campaign arm for House Democrats, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has vowed to defend incumbents, brushing off the ire of liberal Democrats as it broke ties with pollsters and political consultants who work for primary challengers.

Bowman: "My opponent has been in office for over 30 years. Over those 30 years, my opponent voted for an unjust war in Iraq, deregulating Wall Street, school privatization, and building more prisons. While the very few at the top continue to build their wealth and power, the majority of us continue to struggle."

2020 Primary Challenges Could Get Pretty Ugly-- No, No... They Will Be Ugly For Sure

No one can put the Ocasio-Crowley primary in a box and sell it in other districts

Last week the New York Times published a lazy piece by Shane Goldmacher, The Ocasio-Cortez Effect: Wave of Challenges Hits Entrenched N.Y. Democrats, that defines superficial reporting. It should be lost on no one that Ocasio Cortez's stunning and successful campaign against New York's ultimate congressional insider ("the next speaker of the House"), Queens County machine boss, Joe Crowley, was utterly missed-- if not purposefully ignored-- by her hometown paper. Perhaps they're making a half-assed attempt to make up for it by covering some generally non-existent primaries in the area. "Half assed" is better described as quarter-assed... if that. The first sentence may be correct-- let's hope: "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may be just the beginning." But Goldmacher goes nowhere from the correct way to begin his piece.

Blue America has been involved, on one level or another, in every successful Democratic primary against a conservative incumbent since 2006-- Donna Edwards, Beto, Matt Cartwright, AOC... We have also been involved on a ton of them that haven't been successful. If I've learned one thing it's that they succeed when a determined and capable challenger (very, very hard to find, let alone invent) takes on an easily-defined villain with an established bad record. That was certainly the case with Edwards in Maryland, Beto in Texas, Cartwright in Pennsylvania and Ocasio Cortez in New York. Each of them is an extremely talented and charismatic politician and each ran against a corrupt, out-of-touch conservative who was supported fully by an establishment generally loathed by the grassroots.

Goldmacher generally neglected to look at any of that and instead spouts irrelevant nonsense like "Party insurgents are plotting and preparing to battle with the entrenched establishment-- targeting as many as a half-dozen Congress members in and around New York City-- over what it means to be a Democrat and a progressive in the age of President Trump. The coming New York uprising could result in a series of races that lay bare some of the same generational, racial, gender and ideological cleavages expected to define the 2020 presidential primary. The activist left, in particular, hopes that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s victory will inspire a brush fire of Democrat-on-Democrat campaigns that will spread from New York across the nation."

"Party insurgents?" Really? Grass roots activists might be a better way to describe the point he's fumbling towards. As for "generational, racial, gender and ideological cleavages," which worked in Ocasio Cortez's campaign, we'll have to look at each race Goldmacher is reporting to be a potential primary battle. He's certainly right when he claims "serious primary challengers for House seats have historically been rare, and it is almost unheard of for so many to emerge in one region so early in the election cycle." And they haven't emerged, except on the page in the Times his piece was published on.

The first member Goldmacher identifies as a potential target is Jerry Nadler-- who represents a district that includes areas of Manhattan (the Upper West Side, Soho, Chelsea, the Village, the Financial District) and Brooklyn (mostly Borough Park). His super-highly educated Manhattan constituents are not likely to be persuaded he's a villain at all. His ProgressivePunch score is "A" and has always been "A" and his voting record is ranked-- and has always been ranked-- among the 20 most perfect progressive records in Congress. I don't think Nadler or his team ever thought he could be primaried from the left. His last primary was in 2016 when the far right Hassidics who run Borough Park recruited and supported a candidate, Mikhail Oliver Rosenberg, son of a millionaire, to run against Nadler when he voted for the Iran nuclear deal. It looked like if they could order their zombie followers to go out and vote against Nadler-- in what was predicted to be a low-turn-out election, they could pull off an upset. (They even persuaded racist former comedian Jackie Mason to cut a robocall for their candidate.) Instead it was the second highest turn-out primary in the state that year and Mason and the zombies were nowhere to be seen.

Rosenberg fancied himself the new generation (and a part of a strong LGBTQ community) up against an old and tired Nadler. (Nadler has been in the forefront of every pro-gay initiative in his career and gay organizations backed Nadler.) Rosenberg campaigned on a solid green energy platform, on legalizing marijuana, and as an advocate for Israel. 85% of his campaign expenditures ($366,852) came from his own bank account and, like Trump, he claimed he wouldn't be beholden to special interests. Nadler beat Rosenberg in a landslide-- 88.78% to 10.26%.

Goldmacher reports that next year "Nadler could face a primary from Lindsey Boylan, a former economic development adviser to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who appears to want to run on a platform of "I'm a woman and he's not."

She said she was considering a run after watching the 2018 midterms, as “these women decided not to wait their turn because it was never going to be their turn.”

“I just can’t justify having my daughter watch me sit on the sidelines,” she said.

A huge X-factor in any Nadler primary would be the billionaire activist Tom Steyer, who has pushed for the impeachment of Mr. Trump. Mr. Steyer has already polled the popularity of impeachment in the district and is launching a $200,000 direct mail, television and digital ad campaign this week urging Mr. Nadler to begin impeachment hearings in his committee.

Goldmacher identified Tom Suozzi, Eliot Engel, Yvette Clarke, José Serrano, Carolyn Maloney and Kathleen Rice as likely targets. Suozzi, Engel and Rice are New Dems with relatively conservative voting records. Serrano, Maloney and Clarke are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Engel is rumored to be buying his way into the Progressive Caucus so he will be able to use that membership to claim he's progressive. These are the crucial vote scores for all 7 candidates identified in the piece.

• Yvette Clarke- 95.88- A
• Jerry Nadler- 94.98- A
• José Serrano- 93.71- A
• Carolyn Maloney- 86.47- C
• Eliot Engel- 85.30- C
• Kathleen Rice- 63.16- F
• Tom Suozzi- 54.05- F

"Not every challenge in New York," wrote Goldmacher, "will be run on ideological grounds. Some will be powered by more local disputes, longstanding grudges or just timely ambition. But for many progressives, the goal is to police the Democratic Party ideologically, much in the way the Tea Party pushed Republicans to the right."

“We are trying to elect more Alexandrias,” said Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, the insurgent group devoted to recruiting progressive primary challengers nationally. “She is an example of what one victory can do. Imagine what we can do with more primary wins across the country.”

After Mr. Crowley’s defeat almost no one is seen as untouchable.

“They should be afraid,” Maria L. Svart, the national director of the Democratic Socialists of America, which backed Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, said of incumbent House Democrats.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez herself appeared in a promotional video for Justice Democrats and on an organizing call for the group last November during which Saikat Chakrabarti, now her chief of staff, declared, “We gotta primary folks.”

True, but targets should be carefully chosen. It amazes me, for example, that Justice Democrats and DSA have seemingly ignored, at least so far, corrupt New Dem Gregory Meeks. Nadler and Serrano may not be perfect-- but they certainly are in comparison to Meeks, who seems to exist in Congress primarily to collect bribes. A member of the House Financial Services Committee, he's taken $3,665,788 from the Finance Sector, including $564,100 in the last cycle. What's more, Meeks' likely challenger is the ideal candidate for the seat. Khaair Morrison is a 25 year old African-American attorney born and raised in the district, which, he told me yesterday "is ripe for a fresh leadership after having ineffective leadership for 20+ years. Working class neighborhoods like South East Queens, Nassau, Valley Stream, and Far Rockaway have had an up-close seat to the major issues of our time. After Hurricane Sandy, areas are still rebuilding as we see the effects of Global Warming. We were the epicenter for the foreclosure crisis and many have still not able to get their homes back. We see the brutality of broken windows and mass incarceration as our kids are constantly targeted for low-level offenses that ruin opportunities for black and brown lives to be productive members of our society. We have seen how poor infrastructure and lack of planning can ruin a neighborhood's vitality. We have seen the decrepit state of public housing and are still without creative ideas to make housing more equitable. It is time we do things differently and that we speak truth to power." True, that-- and time for a self-serving do-nothing congressman like Meeks to bow out and let a fresh can-do kind of guy like Morrison take the seat.

Meeks is one of the New York congressmembers who Goldmacher was no doubt referring to when he wrote that they "have sought to establish personal or professional bonds with Ocasio-Cortez, signing onto her Green New Deal, for instance-- recognizing the power of her megaphone. In an interview in January, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said she had 'put zero energy' into the question of primarying colleagues. She said the freshman class had 'already changed the opinions and commitments of a lot of incumbent members already. And I think that is something we should absolutely consider.' Whether or not Ms. Ocasio-Cortez gets personally involved, insurgent groups are plowing ahead."

Let me jump to Carolyn Maloney, a difficult target ideologically put perfect for a reformist challenger to take on based on ethics. Her corruption is just mind-boggling, even if her voting record is pretty good. She's not just a member of the House Financial Services Committee, she's the chair of the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets-- and exploits that to the max in her fundraising efforts. Among current members of the House, only 3 have been bigger Finance Sector money pigs than Maloney. A case can-- and should-- be made that these are the half dozen most corrupt members of Congress, at least in regard to Wall Street banksters, and that they should all be carted off to jail holding tanks before their trials:

• Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)- $8,086,692
• Steny Hoyer (D-MD)- $6,865,814
• Jim Himes (New Dem-CT)- $6,376,379
• Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)- $6,309,318
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC)- $5,627,242
• Steve Stivers (R-OH)- $5,620,077

Suraj Patel ran against Maloney in 2018 and may do it again next year. He ought to. NY-12 is a solidly blue district (D+31) that spans Manhattan (Yorkville, the Upper East Side, Midtown, Kips Bay, Gramercy Park, Alphabet City and the Lower East Side), Queens (Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside) and Brooklyn (Greenpoint and north Williamsburg). Interstate 278 separates Maloney's district from Ocasio's in Queens. Of the 251,604 people who voted in 2018, 190,771 were in Manhattan, 35,728 in Queens and 25,105 in Brooklyn. The district has changed-- and rapidly, as Ocasio's had-- and in similar ways. First of all, though not most important per se, the D+27 PVI in 2017 jumped to D+31 in 2019. That's a big jump and it's the other changes that account for it. The white population is smaller but still dominant, though the fastest growing demos are Asians, Latinos, Arabs and-- very significantly-- highly educated and politicized millennials. Patel: "The status quo isn’t good enough. Our values are under attack by leaders that don’t share or understand our lived experiences, and it’s going to take new ideas and louder voices to make real change... We deserve a congressperson who isn’t recklessly indifferent to the less privileged."

Patel ended up with a bit over 40% of the vote, a great accomplishment against a forever incumbent on a first try. Goldmacher interviewed Sean McElwee, who has been involved in finding primary challengers in New York and who was a co-founder of the progressive think tank Data for Progress. McElwee told him that "in deep blue states, Republicans increasingly don’t exist. We spend a lot of time thinking about why we have right-wing corporate Democrats selling out our interests." McElwee told him the push to recruit a challenger to Engel, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee and has been in Congress for three decades (and who represents the Likud Party of Israel and their lobbyists, AIPAC, far more than he does the folks who live in the 16th district (including Riverdale, Fieldston and Eastchester in the Bronx, abutting Ocasio's district, and New Rochelle, Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Mamaroneck, Scarsdale and up to Rye and Hastings-on-Hudson in Westchester.

Blue America has been trying to find a local elected official to take Engel on for years, but with not a nibble. McElwee calls finding a primary opponent for him a "top priority" and recently commissioned a poll there. The district used to be overwhelming white but now whites only make up 39% of the population. Blacks, Latinos and Asians make it a minority-majority district. McElwee is eager to find "a younger candidate of color in 2020; only about a half-dozen white Democratic men represent a more diverse district in Congress than Mr. Engel," wrote Goldmacher.

One potential challenger mulling a run is Andom Ghebreghiorgis, a Yale graduate and 33-year-old educator in Mount Vernon, who said that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez "showed there’s a hunger, especially here in New York, for representatives who reflect the changing progressive politics of their communities."

In a statement, Mr. Engel praised the party’s "new energy" and said the fact that anyone can run "is the beauty of our electoral system." But, he added, "think we’re doing the people we represent and the country a disservice by focusing on 2020 primaries when we have so much to do right now in Washington."

Yeah-- but not in NY-16. There are 4 congressmembers who represent parts of the Bronx, Ocasio, Engel, Adriano Espaillat-- a relatively new member, a progressive and a very good fit for the district-- and José Serrano (NY-15) in the center of the borough, in some ways the furthest left district in New York. The PVI is D+44, the bluest in the state and Trump only managed to win 4.9% of the vote in 2016 (slightly better than Romney did, but still Trump's worst performance anywhere in America. Only 2% of the population is white. The last Republican who won this district was Calvin Coolidge in 1924. The Bronx Machine has been eager to take Serrano out for some time but no one wants to run against him. In 2014 his primary opponent, Sam Sloan won 9% of the vote. His 2016 primary opponent, Leonel Baez won 10.8% and in 2018 there was no primary opponent. In the 2018 general election, the Republican candidate was Jason Gonzalez and Serrano beat him 124,469 (96%) to 5,205 (4%). City Councilman Ritchie Torres, a 30-year-old often described as a rising star, is weighing a run based on the whole "it's my turn, you're too old" thing.

Yvette Clarke, who won with only 53%, is facing a rematch with Adem Bunkeddeko, the Harvard-educated son of war Ugandan refugees who had been endorsed by the New York Times. "We’re at a moment of reckoning. Some people get it and some people don’t. Maybe someone’s seventh term is the charm? But most of us aren’t holding our breath." Goldmacher spoke with her and she told him that "she had reorganized her district office following the 2018 close call and is aggressively selling her progressive credentials in the more gentrified and liberal parts of the district, such as Park Slope. 'I definitely will not be caught by surprise.' She has among the dozen most progressive voting records in Congress. Bunkeddeko's point is that she's basically just a backbencher who votes well and doesn't do much for the district.

The last two likely primary races are on Long Island-- Tom Suozzi and Kathleen Rice, both New Dems who are going to be challenged from the left. I'm going to do a separate post on these two races because both are swingy districts that could, at least in theory, flip red if the incumbents are beaten.


UPDATE: Democratic Primary In Arizona

At dawn today, the Arizona Republic reported that Eva Putzova, a former Flagstaff city councilwoman, is running for the AZ-01 seat currently held by reactionary Blue Dog Tom O'Halleran.

Putzova, who announced her candidacy in January, said her top priority in Congress would be to address the process immigrants have to go through to become citizens. She said the current system takes too long and leaves people at the mercy of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers for far too long.

She also wants ICE restructured.

“Nobody is saying that enforcement in immigration is not important, but ICE as an agency is rogue,” she said. “It needs to be completely restructured.”

..."A #GreenNewDeal should be every candidates priority in 2020," she tweeted Feb. 10 in support of the "Green New Deal" environmental plan championed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

Her campaign website lists other top issues: universal health care, tuition-free college, indigenous peoples' rights, "meaningful climate action," "no more wars," women's reproductive health and workers' rights.

...O’Halleran, the two-term incumbent, appears to have the support of national Democrats.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently added him to its "Frontline" program.

The DCCC's Frontline program is designed to help provide Democratic members of Congress with the support they need to win re-election. O’Halleran is now one of 44 members of Congress in the program.

“Tom O’Halleran wins tough races because he understands the concerns of hard-working Arizonans, and because he never forgot where he came from,” Rep. Cheri Bustos, the 2020 cycle's DCCC chairwoman, said in a written statement.

“We’re proud to stand with Tom as a member of our Frontline program to ensure he has the support he needs to win and keep working for Arizona,” Bustos (Blue Dog-IL) added.

Blue America has already endorsed Eva Putzova and if you'd like to see another member of Congress who supports Bernie's platform replace an "ex"-Republican Blue Dog, please click on the ActBlue Primary A Blue Dog thermometer on the right and contribute what you can.