Outside spending on Latimer-Bowman race starts up with $1.9M in TV ads by pro-Israel group

A wave of commercials criticizing Rep. Jamaal Bowman and praising his primary challenger George Latimer are about to hit TV screens in New York's 16th Congressional District and beyond, courtesy of a pro-Israel group.

The United Democracy Project spent a hefty $1.9 million on TV ads set to start Thursday and air for five days in the New York City area, according to data from the ad-tracking company AdImpact that were disclosed on social media Wednesday.

The ad burst signals the start of outside spending on an intra-party battle that has gotten national attention, largely due to the split between the two Democrats on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Much more money will likely flow into the race over the five weeks between the end of this ad purchase and the June 25 primary.

The United Democracy Project is a super PAC tied to, and partly funded by, the American Israel Political Action Committee, a pro-Israel group known as AIPAC. According to federal campaign data compiled by the Open Secrets website, it spent $26 million on nine Democratic House primaries in 2022 to back pro-Israel candidates and oppose those who criticize the Israeli government.

The group didn't respond to questions on Wednesday about its upcoming commercials in the 16th District.

The Bowman-Latimer primary was a ripe target for the group's spending because Bowman, a second-term progressive from Yonkers, is a vocal critic of Israel and its military response to the Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis by Hamas terrorists. Latimer, a seasoned office holder who has been Westchester County executive since 2018, firmly supports Israel and was courted by AIPAC last year to challenge Bowman.

Bowman and New York's Working Families Party, a progressive group backing his re-election, rebuked the upcoming ad campaign in separate statements on Wednesday, casting it as an intrusion in a Democratic contest by a group partially-funded by Republican megadonors.

"Democrats across New York deserve better, and will reject these attempts to buy our elections and undermine our democracy," Bowman said.

Jasmine Gripper, co-director of the Working Families Party, blasted the Super PAC's Republican donors for trying to "unseat one of the most powerful voices for working people in Congress," and said, "Voters — not GOP billionaires — should be the ones who decide Democratic primaries.”

Latimer's campaign responded by accusing Bowman of benefiting from the same sort of financial support he was now denouncing. The progressive group Justice Democrats has spent $165,000 so far on mailings and internet ads that laud Bowman and attack Latimer, according to federal spending records. One mailer sent to homes in the 16th District proclaimed: "Republican billionaires love George Latimer."

"This kind of dishonesty and hypocrisy is why no one trusts Jamaal Bowman," read the statement from Latimer's campaign. "Bowman has gotten huge dark money support for weeks promoting lies about George Latimer, and now that there's independent spending against him he's complaining about how it's not fair. He needs to grow up."

United Democracy's spending on Bowman-Latimer ads haven't been disclosed yet in public campaign finance reports. According to AdImpact data provided by the Working Families Party, the $1.9 million in ads for the 16th District are split equally between pro-Latimer and anti-Bowman commercials and will be shown on both network and cable TV over five days.

First debate: George Latimer and Jamaal Bowman battle over records, campaign donors, Gaza war in debate

Most candidates backed by United Democracy in 2022 House races won their Democratic primaries. The group spent $6 million, for example, to prevent former Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards from returning to the House seat she had left in 2016. She lost by 16 points to Glenn Ivey, now an AIPAC-endorsed House freshman.

One notable loss for the group in 2022 was Summer Lee's narrow victory in a Pittsburgh-area House district, after United Democracy had spent $3.9 million to beat her and boost rival Steve Irwin. Lee, a first-term congresswoman and fellow member of the left-wing House "squad" with Bowman, won another primary last month by a whopping 21 points, with United Democracy spending little in that race.

This story has been updated with spending on Bowman's behalf by the progressive group Justice Democrats.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Latimer-Bowman TV ads set to start in $1.9M buy from pro-Israel group