Progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman runs as an outsider as he fights for a third term

WHITE PLAINS, New York — Incumbent Rep. Jamaal Bowman is running for a third term in Congress benefitting from the endorsements of the top House Democratic leaders and his own ubiquitous presence in Washington, on cable news and on social media.

But as he fights for his political survival here in a district north of Manhattan, the progressive firebrand and member of “The Squad” is turning to the same primary strategy that helped him topple veteran Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel four years ago: portraying himself as an outsider insurgent running against a lifelong politician who Bowman, 48, says represents the establishment, status quo and big-money donors.

Bowman’s Democratic primary opponent this time is George Latimer, 70, a popular Westchester County Executive and former state senator and assemblyman who was first elected to the Rye City Council back when Ronald Reagan was president — and notably hasn’t lost a race since.

At a vibrant outdoor weekend festival in Co-Op City in the Bronx Saturday, Bowman was eager to highlight the contrasts.

“I’m for taxing the rich, he’s not. I’m for taxing large corporations, he’s not. I’m for reparations for Black people, he’s not. He’s completely funded by right-wing, MAGA Republican billionaires. And all of my funding comes from the grassroots of working-class people,” he told a voter as hip-hop and Caribbean music blared.

“So if you want the status quo that got us to the point where we might have Trump in office again and another genocide in Gaza — if you’re with that, that’s the guy,” Bowman continued. “If you want a new vision for America, that includes all people, that makes sure everyone contributes their fair share and uplifts from the bottom and not the top, then I’m your guy.”