Rep. Jamaal Bowman will face a major problem from Westchester County Legislator Vedat Gashi, who says the Democratic congressman’s virulently anti-Israel positions can be a significant concern within the race.
“I believe the views he has taken … it’s an issue,” mentioned Gashi, a 43-year-old lawyer from Yorktown. “And it’s an issue for American nationwide safety.”
He pointed to Bowman’s determination to withdraw his help for laws selling the Abraham Accords, which noticed Israel normalize relations with plenty of their Arab neighbors.
Bowman had initially been a co-sponsor of the Israel Relations Normalization Act — however dropped his help after redistricting eliminated closely Jewish Riverdale from his congressional district.
“The offers that this invoice helps and seeks to pursue, have included offers at odds with human rights and security for on a regular basis folks within the area,” Bowman mentioned in a letter to constituents explaining his determination.
An open letter denouncing Bowman’s flip-flop has been signed by dozens of native rabbis.
Bowman can even face different major opponents together with, Michael Gerald, a deputy commissioner on the Westchester County Division of Correction and pastor at Shiloh Church in Tuckahoe and Manuel Casanova, a New Rochelle businessman.
Earlier than the redistricting, Bowman had been famous because the uncommon “Squad” member who made overtures to Israel. He was lauded by mainstream Dems for conferences with the Israeli consulate in New York and a visit to Israel the place he posed for a photograph with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Earlier than the about-face, the Democratic Socialists of America — which endorses the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction marketing campaign in opposition to Israel — sharply rebuked Bowman and he confronted calls to be expelled from the occasion.
Gashi — who known as himself a “Biden Democrat” — mentioned he plans to focus on Bowman votes that had been out of step with the district’s constituents, together with his vote in opposition to President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure invoice and a “current” vote on funding the D.C. capitol police.
Gashi added that he discovered Bowman’s embrace of the Democratic Socialists of America “offensive.”
“My household fled Kosovo, which was a socialist nation, so we're not very keen on it,” he mentioned. He known as out the group for blaming the Russian invasion of Ukraine on American “imperialist growth.”
Bowman, who rose to nationwide prominence after ousting longtime congressman Eliot Engel, will likely be tough to unseat, and at the moment has greater than $300,000 money available to push back Gashi, FEC filings present.
However the Yorktown pol mentioned he was undaunted and has been assembly native officers and has retained the high-octane MirRam Group to assist handle his marketing campaign.
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