Jamaal Bowman’s loss has left progressives in shock and without a plan

Representative Jamaal Bowman’s primary loss to George Latimer on Tuesday left members of the Squad and their allies in the House of Representatives reeling on Wednesday.

Latimer, a Westchester County executive, crushed Bowman after pro-Israel groups including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, bombarded the airwaves with ads and spent more than $14 million to unseat the incumbent. The race wound up becoming the most expensive congressional primary in history.

“Big money just piled on and was successful in their efforts,” Representative Jesus “Chuy” Garcia told The Independent. “We've got to get money out of politics.”

And it looks like AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups will copy their successful strategy against Bowman against fellow Squad member Representative Cori Bush. Like with Bowman, the groups’ ads in that race have not focused on Bush’s support for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza after the October 7 attack. Rather, they have hit her for voting against the bipartisan infrastructure bill in 2021 and opposing the bipartisan debt limit agreement that President Joe Biden brokered.

Now, progressives seem to have few short-term strategies to protect one of their own.

“We gotta keep building the grassroots base, and we're gonna keep making the case that we need an overturning of Citizens United,” Representative Ro Khanna of California told The Independent, referring to the Supreme Court case in 2010 that opened the floodgates for unlimited corporate money and super PACs in the United States.

“That type of spending and politics in general, but particularly in our democratic processes, is toxic, and it is something that we have to help our