Bowman is anti-charter and anti high stakes testing and pro teacher. At the very least they should have been neutral. The UFT is so tied to the Dem Party central committee and the fact that this wing controls the party and shuns progressives doesn't bode well even if Biden wins. Win or lose - there will be a war.
The Hill
Black lawmakers rally behind Engel in primary fight
Powerful
Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members are rallying behind longtime
Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) as he fends off a tough primary challenge from
a progressive African-American candidate, Jamaal Bowman.
Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), whose endorsement helped propel Joe Biden to the presidential nomination, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the caucus chairman seen as the heir apparent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-N.Y.), threw their support behind Engel, a pro-Israel Jewish American and 16-term House veteran, over the weekend. Read the full story here
Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), whose endorsement helped propel Joe Biden to the presidential nomination, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the caucus chairman seen as the heir apparent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-N.Y.), threw their support behind Engel, a pro-Israel Jewish American and 16-term House veteran, over the weekend. Read the full story here
NYT
Hillary
Clinton delivered her first Democratic primary endorsement in a 2020
House race on Monday, throwing her support behind Representative Eliot
L. Engel of New York, who is trying to fend off a serious challenge from
his left after more than three decades in Congress.
“I
have worked with Eliot Engel as first lady, as senator from New York
and as secretary of state,” Mrs. Clinton said in a statement provided to
The New York Times. “Every step of the way, his No. 1 priority has
always remained the same: delivering for his constituents.”
The
endorsement puts Mrs. Clinton on the opposite side of a wave of
progressives who are backing Mr. Engel’s leading challenger, Jamaal
Bowman, a middle school principal, including Senator Bernie Sanders of
Vermont; Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York; the
Working Families Party; Justice Democrats; and MoveOn, the progressive
advocacy group.
Mr. Engel, who
represents the 16th District in the Bronx and Westchester County and has
served in Congress since 1989, faced criticism this spring for his
absence from New York during the coronavirus pandemic. When he returned
for a news conference at the start of June, Mr. Engel could be heard on camera angling for a chance to speak.
“If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care,” he said twice.
The
recording prompted a surge of support for Mr. Bowman, who announced on
Monday that his campaign had raised $750,000 in the first 15 days of
June — half the total he had raised in the entire campaign.
Shortly after the news of Mrs. Clinton’s endorsement broke, Mr. Bowman posted
an animated GIF on Twitter of President Barack Obama brushing off his
shoulders and a link to a donation page. (Mr. Obama has not endorsed in
the race.)
Dave Wasserman, who handicaps congressional races as the House editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said this month that Mr. Engel was “the next House incumbent in serious danger of losing a primary.”
Only
one Democratic incumbent has lost a primary so far in 2020:
Representative Dan Lipinski of Illinois, who opposed abortion rights and
lost in a rematch to Marie Newman, whom he had narrowly defeated two years earlier.
Mr.
Bowman’s chances in New York improved this month when one of Mr.
Engel’s other challengers, Andom Ghebreghiorgis, dropped out and
endorsed Mr. Bowman.
Mrs.
Clinton, who lives in a neighboring district, is the latest in a string
of establishment Democrats to announce their support in an effort to
save Mr. Engel, who is the chairman of the powerful House Foreign
Affairs Committee. Other recent endorsements included Speaker Nancy
Pelosi; the House majority whip, James E. Clyburn; the House Democratic
Caucus chairman, Hakeem Jeffries; and Representative Adam B. Schiff, a
favorite foil of President Trump’s as the chairman of the House
Intelligence Committee.
But none are
as big a name as Mrs. Clinton, who chose to give Mr. Engel her first
endorsement of any Democratic incumbent facing a primary in 2020 (she
had backed one other House candidate, Christy Smith, in a California
special election).
Mrs. Clinton
carried Westchester County with 66 percent of the vote in the
presidential primary race against Mr. Sanders in 2016, and won in the
Bronx with 68 percent.
In her
statement, Mrs. Clinton hailed Mr. Engel’s record, including his work on
the Violence Against Women Act, the Children’s Health Insurance Program
and bringing federal aid to New York after the Sept. 11 attacks.
“As
chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, he has helped hold this
administration accountable, including by uncovering the illegal firing
of the inspector general; secure our elections against foreign
interference; and protect dedicated Foreign Service officers from
political retribution,” Mrs. Clinton said. “He is deeply committed to
working with our allies to maintain American leadership on the global
stage.”
Outside super PACs have entered the race, as well.
The Working Families Party and Justice Democrats have announced plans for a $500,000-plus effort to oust Mr. Engel and are airing an ad featuring Mr. Engel’s “I wouldn’t care” remark.
On the other side, a group called the Democratic Majority for Israel has reported more than $600,000 in spending for Mr. Engel.
Shane
Goldmacher is a national political reporter and was previously the
chief political correspondent for the Metro Desk. Before joining The
Times, he worked at Politico, where he covered national Republican
politics and the 2016 presidential campaign. @ShaneGoldmacher
No comments:
Post a Comment