“I think it is very dangerous for party unity if the members are going to start presenting major challenges to other members in the same group,” Engel, 73, who has served in the House for almost 32 years, told CNN. . “I think it is not something that should be done.”
Engel added: “But you know that everyone does what they want to do, and I am willing to fulfill the wishes of the people.”
Engel’s comments came after Jamaal Bowman, a 44-year-old high school principal, crushed him in the June primaries and won the backing of several high-profile Democrats at his primary, including representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of Nueva York, Katie Porter of California and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, as well as Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont.
“Who is going to (be able to serve) in a caucus if there are people sitting there who want to defeat him?” Engel said on Capitol Hill. “It would be reluctant and other people would be reluctant to say what they feel. I just think it is not something I would do.”
In his main campaign, Engel was attacked by his critics for losing contact with the district he has represented since 1989. When asked about the criticism, Engel refused.
“My opponent said he was not in the district, but that was really because he was not in the district,” said Engel. “I’m in the district and I’m there every day doing constitutive work and whatnot.”
The attacks, he said, “were very inaccurate, but that is political. And I accept it, I respect” the result.
In 1988, Engel himself emerged victorious in a Democratic primary against a incumbent congressman, Mario Biaggi, who had been convicted of extortion charges a month before the primary.
While Engel said Monday that he is grateful for his time in office and respects the wishes of voters, the New York veteran also said “it’s hard to say” why he lost. “I think there was a lot of upheaval” after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man at the hands of the Minneapolis police. “I think it somehow reflected how people voted.”
Bowman, an African-American candidate who criticized racial injustice and demanded major changes to the criminal justice system, was fueled by a wave of support from liberal activists, outpacing the party’s establishment wing, including President Nancy Pelosi, who endorsed Engel. .
Engel said he was not “too surprised” by the loss of 15 points he suffered. “I could feel it in the last days, but again, I respect it and I have many things to do in my life.”
When asked what awaits him after his term ends in January, Engel said: “I don’t know; I’ll see. People have already been calling and I’m not rushing into anything.”
This story has been updated.
CNN’s Dominic Torres contributed to this report.
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