Jamaal Bowman has achieved a surprising victory over Representative Eliot L. Engel of New York in a Democratic primary, defeating the incumbent for 16 terms and beating the efforts of the Democratic establishment in a profound display of progressive political power.
Yonkers High School Principal Mr. Bowman was declared the winner on Friday, after an absentee ballot count verified what seemed clear on Primary Night, when he came out with a dominant advantage over Mr. Engel, the president of the Chamber of Foreigners Affairs Committee
The victory came with the help of stars from the left wing of the Democratic Party, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
As a first-time candidate with a burning anti-system message, Bowman’s victory echoes Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s surprising 2018 victory over another New York-based incumbent, Representative Joseph Crowley, then the No. 4 Democrat in home.
In the closing weeks of the campaign, as Mr. Bowman gained momentum and prominent sponsors, members of the Democratic Old Guard attempted to save Mr. Engel’s flag campaign. Hillary Clinton backed the congressman a week before the primaries, followed shortly by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, who said Engel deserved a vote because “seniority matters.”
Those pleas followed the endorsement of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi; James E. Clyburn, the House’s majority whip; and Hakeem Jeffries, the president of the Democratic House Chamber.
It was all in vain as Bowman overtook Engel and two other Democratic challengers, adopting progressive plans such as Green New Deal and Medicare for All, while preaching the need for broader social changes such as criminal justice reform and addressing income inequality.
Those themes received new emphasis and increased urgency as the nation faltered after the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police in late May. Subsequent protests were widely incorporated and energized in the Black Lives Matter movement, and provided a powerful topic of conversation for Mr. Bowman, who is African American and said that he had been physically attacked by police as a child.
The Black Lives Matter movement also served as the backdrop for a moment that caused shudders for Mr. Engel. At a press conference in the Bronx in early June, the congressman was caught on the microphone suggesting that he was only there due to his disputed career. “If I didn’t have a primary,” he said, “I wouldn’t mind.”
Mr. Engel, 73, was first elected in 1988 and had practiced an old-school form of politics: he slowly rose through the ranks of the party, was pleased to hand over a series of presidents, and boasted of the advantages that he brought home to the 16th Congressional District, which includes the North Bronx and parts of South Westchester County.
Mr. Engel becomes the fifth incumbent in the House and second Democrat to fall in this year’s primaries; Daniel Lipinski from Illinois was the other. The three Republicans who lost were Steve King of Iowa, Denver Riggleman of Virginia and Scott Tipton of Colorado.
Bowman received extensive financial aid from liberal groups like the Working Families Party and political action committees like Justice Democrats, which together spent more than $ 700,000 to overthrow Mr. Engel.
The coronavirus outbreak, which killed more than 4,500 people in the Bronx and Westchester, also profoundly changed the primary campaign, limiting the campaign in person and forcing discussions to take place through Zoom.
Bowman, who claimed a million calls to voters, also criticized Engel’s lack of presence in the district during the crisis, suggesting that the headline spent much of his time in a home he owns in the Maryland suburbs. Mr. Engel rejected this claim, saying that he had a constant presence in the district, including Riverdale, where he lives.
Bowman, 44, is the prohibitive favorite to win in November in District 16, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than four to one. There is no Republican candidate, and only one other challenger, Patrick McManus, of the Conservative Party.
