House Democrat Who Launched Group to Protect Incumbents Endorses Rep. Bowman’s Primary Challenger

L: Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah/ R: Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA/Sipa via AP Images.

In 2021, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) was a co-founder of Team Blue, a PAC dedicated to helping protect Democratic incumbents from primary challengers. This year, he’s endorsed George Latimer against embattled Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY).

Gottheimer’s endorsement isn’t that surprising when viewed in the broader context of Team Blue’s founding, which was described at the time to be aimed at helping Democratic incumbents specifically fend off challenges from the far left. As NBC News reported, progressive members like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — who got into Congress herself by successfully ousting an incumbent Democrat viewed as more moderate — had supported “left-wing groups” that were “unafraid to pump money into races to oust Democratic incumbents.”

Ocasio-Cortez is among the progressive Democrats supporting Bowman this election cycle, appearing with him at a rally in South Bronx over the weekend along with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

As Gottheimer’s co-founder Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told Rolling Stone in 2021, the PAC’s goal was to push back against incumbents’ records “being distorted” by “the hard-left.”

Meanwhile, Bowman has faced sharp criticism for a series of controversies, including being censured by the House for pulling a fire alarm in an alleged attempt to delay a vote in September 2023, posting a 9/11 conspiracy poem on his blog in 2011, and his harsh criticism of Israel’s response to the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack.

On June 12, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a rare endorsement in a Democratic primary, sharing her support for Latimer because he “will protect abortion rights, stand up to the NRA, and fight for President Biden’s agenda—just like he’s always done.”

Gottheimer officially added his name to the list of Latimer supporters in a tweet Monday.

“I’m proud to endorse [Latimer],” wrote Gottheimer. “We need more commonsense leaders and problem solvers in Congress. I know George will fight hate in all forms, and stand up for the values we all believe in.”

The polling is strongly in Latimer’s favor, with an Emerson College/The Hill/New York’s PIX11 survey earlier this month showing the Westchester County Executive up 17 points over Bowman, 48 percent to 31 percent. The primary election is on June 25.