Bowman honoring Caribbean American Heritage Month Recorded June 22, 2022
Jamaal Anthony Bowman (born April 1, 1976) is an American politician and former educator who served from 2021 to 2025 as the United States representative for New York's 16th congressional district.
Bowman is the founder and former principal of the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, a public middle school in Eastchester, Bronx. He defeated 16-term incumbent Eliot Engel in the 2020 Democratic primary and was first elected to Congress in November that year. He was a member of the Squad, an informal group of leftist members of the House Democratic Caucus.
On October 26, 2023, Bowman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for willfully setting off a false fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building. In exchange for his guilty plea, the charge was dropped. On December 7, the House of Representatives voted 214–191 to censure him for the fire alarm incident.[1][2] In 2024, Bowman ran for reelection[3] but lost to Westchester County executive George Latimer in the district's Democratic primary.[4][5][6] Bowman was the first of two Democratic incumbents of the 2024 election cycle to lose a primary along with Cori Bush. He also was the first member of the Squad to lose a primary.[7][8]
After earning his undergraduate degree, Bowman decided not to pursue a career in sports management. Upon the suggestion of a family friend who worked for the New York City Department of Education, Bowman began working as an educator. His first job was as a crisis management teacher in a South Bronx elementary school.[12] In 2009, he founded Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, a public middle school in the Bronx.[11][12]
As principal of Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, Bowman curated a "wall of honor" featuring likenesses of prominent Black, Latino, and Asian individuals. Its honorees included Martin Luther King Jr., Sonia Sotomayor, Cynthia McKinney, Mutulu Shakur, and Assata Shakur.[18][19][20]HuffPost political reporter Daniel Marans criticized Bowman for including "a notorious antisemite and two Black militants convicted of murder and armed robbery"; Bowman's campaign spokesperson responded that it is "a rhetorical tool of the far right to insinuate educating students on major figures of Black American history is serving to promote hateful or divisive rhetoric or actions."[18] Bowman later condemned McKinney's statements as antisemitic.[21]
Bowman became a leading advocate against standardized testing, calling it "slavery".[22][23][24] His blog on the role of standardized testing received national attention.[22] He wrote that high-stakes testing had a role in perpetuating inequalities,[25] including turnover, tumult, and a vicious cycle it creates in students' and educators' lives, saying performance assessments damage a school's ability to teach.
Bowman also advocated for children to receive arts, history, and science education in addition to the basics of literacy and numeracy.[22] Bowman's school policy used a restorative justice model to address the school-to-prison pipeline.[26] After 10 years as principal, he left the job to focus on his congressional campaign.[27]
Bowman won the primary on July 17, 2020, with 55% of the vote.[33][30] In the general election, he defeated Conservative nominee Patrick McManus with 84% of the vote.[34]
Bowman was challenged in the Democratic primary by Westchester County legislator Vedat Gashi, who was endorsed by Bowman's predecessor and 2020 primary opponent, Eliot Engel.[35] Bowman won the primary with 54% of the vote, and the general election with 64% of the vote.[36]
A frequent critic of U.S. support for Israel during the Gaza-Israel conflict, Bowman was challenged by pro-Israel Westchester County Executive George Latimer in the Democratic primary.[37][38]The New York Times called the contest "a marquee showcase of the party's divisions over the Israel-Hamas war".[39]
The primary was the most expensive House of Representatives primary in U.S. history, with $15 million in outside spending benefiting Latimer's campaign.[4] Much of the outside spending came from groups affiliated with the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee.[40][3][41] Latimer defeated Bowman, 58.59% to 41.41%.[42]
In January 2021, following the storming of the United States Capitol, Bowman introduced the Congressional Oversight of Unjust Policing Act (COUP Act) to establish a commission to investigate how United States Capitol Police handled the storming of the Capitol and to look at potential ties of some of its members to white nationalism.[48] Bowman said that introducing the bill was "critical when you look at the disparity in terms of how the Capitol Police responded to the insurrection on Wednesday, versus how they responded to—not just [Black Lives Matter] protestors this summer, but other people of color, and people who are disabled, historically".[49] The legislation came after Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer called for the Capitol Police chief's resignation.[50]
On September 30, 2023, while House Democrats were attempting to delay a vote on a continuing resolution to fund the government ahead of a midnight deadline,[citation needed] Bowman pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building, causing the building to be evacuated for an hour and a half.[54] Bowman initially claimed that he had set off the alarm by accident, telling reporters, "I thought the alarm would open the door".[55][56] His office released "suggested talking points" for political allies, which reiterated the claim that the alarm was an accident and called some Republicans "Nazis", language Bowman said he had not approved.[57][58][59] Then-House SpeakerKevin McCarthy alleged that the fire alarm was a delaying tactic, and promised punishment for Bowman. Other House Republicans suggested measures ranging from censure to expulsion.[60][61]
After a Capitol Police investigation, Bowman accepted a deal in which he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor crime of willfully or knowingly falsely pulling a fire alarm, paid the maximum fine of $1,000, and wrote a letter of apology to police; in exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against him after three months.[62][63][64]
On December 7, 2023, the House censured Bowman for the incident by a 214–191 vote, with three Democrats joining Republicans in censuring him.[65] Afterwards, the House Ethics Committee dropped its review of Bowman's actions as moot.[66]
Foreign and defense policy
In September 2021, Bowman voted in favor of providing Israel with an additional $1 billion in aid to fund its Iron Dome missile defense system.[67] His vote was controversial among members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), and sparked debate within the DSA about whether it should require that its members support Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel.[68] A spokesman confirmed in October 2023 that Bowman had let his DSA membership expire in 2022 following DSA's response to his vote.[69] But in May 2024, Bowman rejoined the organization and was endorsed by its New York City chapter.[70][71] This came as he faced a strong primary challenge from George Latimer, who was endorsed by many pro-Israel lobby groups.[72][38]
Bowman was among 51 House Democrats who voted against the final passage of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. Explaining his vote, he said, "it is astounding how quickly Congress moves weapons but we can't ensure housing, care, and justice for our veterans, nor invest in robust jobs programs for districts like mine."[73][74]
On July 18, 2023, Bowman and eight other progressive Democrats voted against a congressionalnon-binding resolution proposed by August Pfluger that "the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state", that Congress rejects "all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia", and that "the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel".[75]
On November 17, Bowman called reports of Israeli women being raped during the 2023 Hamas attack "propaganda" and a "lie". After Politico reached out to his office about his statements in March 2024, Bowman retracted his previous remarks.[78][79] Bowman apologized in June 2024, saying, "Immediately when the U.N. provided additional evidence, I voted to condemn the sexual violence."[80][81]
Liberal Israel lobby group J Street withdrew its endorsement of Bowman on January 29, 2024, citing the "framing and approach" of his response to the Hamas attack. J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami said that Bowman had "gone too far".[82]
Bowman lives with his wife, Melissa Oppenheimer, and their three children in Yonkers, New York.[11][91] His wife was upset about his decision to run for office for "the first eleven months", Bowman said on an episode of The Carlos Watson Show.[92]
Bowman is a fan of New York hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. He described hip-hop as a "culture that is created by teenagers who were forgotten about, and because they were forgotten about, they were forced to come together and create something beautiful".[93] Bowman drew inspiration from the Wu-Tang Clan during his underdog campaign,[94] and has frequently been seen in a Wu-Tang Clan emblazoned face covering during the COVID-19 pandemic,[94][95][96] which GQ noted allowed Bowman to send voters a message.[97]
From 2011 to 2014, Bowman maintained a blog on which he promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories. After the blog was reported on by The Daily Beast, Bowman said he regretted his posts.[98][99][100] In May 2024, The Daily Beast revealed that Bowman's personal YouTube account was subscribed to dozens of fringe conspiracy channels, at least several of which he had subscribed to since being elected to Congress. In response, Bowman denied knowledge of any of the channels or their content.[101]
^Barkan, Ross (February 22, 2023). "'The Democratic Party in New York Is a Disaster'". The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved June 25, 2024. Jamaal Bowman, a Westchester County congressman and a member of the Squad, the prominent group of far-left members of Congress, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar.
^"Bowman slams AIPAC in final debate with Latimer". Punchbowl News. Retrieved June 25, 2024. Bowman is embracing underdog status in his competitive primary against Westchester County Executive George Latimer, who is seeking to be the first mainstream Democrat to knock off a member of the far-left Squad.
^"Jamaal Bowman Member Profile". clerk.house.gov. Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
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