With just a few hours left before the polls close, Bronxites continue to cast their ballots for what’s shaping up to be a competitive primary election cycle.
The most contentious of those is the race for New York’s 16th Congressional District, where incumbent U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, 48, is facing 70-year-old Westchester County Executive George Latimer in the Democratic Primary. NY-16 encompasses a small portion of the North Bronx and a larger portion of southern Westchester County.
The rivals have captured national attention on the campaign trail because of their contrasting views on the war in Palestine. Some say the election might be a broader indicator of Democrats’ stances at a time when the party is split. The race, thanks to pro-Israel groups, has also made the NY-16 contest the most expensive House primary in American history.
Bowman, on Tuesday afternoon, led the youth drum line Ice Cold Experience, from Mount Vernon, in a walk around Edenwald Houses, greeting supporters along the way. He called up to people in the towers, motioning his hands to come down and vote.
But as of 3 p.m. the polling site at Edenwald Community Center had a low voter turnout, with approximately 59 votes cast, according to polling site workers.
Hector Lopez, who said he has lived in the district since 1992, voted for Bowman. He said he believes that Bowman could help to prevent the closure of local senior centers.
While he is “always baffled” by how candidates treat each other, he said he would “vote for anybody who looks out for the little guy.”
Mysonne Linen, a North Bronx native, said he’s known Bowman since he was a principal. He decried what he called a “smear campaign” against Bowman but said that “ignited” he and other supporters to come out and vote.
He also said he saw no positive messaging from Latimer and his platform.
And while voter turnout in the Bronx is always a problem, Linen said he expects a better turnout this time around.
Meanwhile, one passerby said “we should boycott this [election],” adding that candidates only show up when they want votes.
“That’s when they wanna show us a little love and give us free things,” he said.
In a heated News 12 debate earlier this spring, the candidates disagreed over various issues — interrupting each other and the moderator and tossing insults back and forth — one of them being the war in Palestine. Bowman, a progressive, is vehemently opposed to the war and has openly called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unfit to hold office. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas militants killed 1,200 Israelis and took another 250 hostage. According to the Associated Press, since Israel’s military counter-attack, there have been more than 37,000 Palestinians killed in the war.
“Going after Hamas in this way is not going to end the cycle of conflict that has been going on for 75 years,” Bowman said during the News 12 debate. “We can have a free Palestine and fight antisemitism and that’s what we need to do here, not just through rhetoric, but through education and connecting communities.”
Meanwhile, Latimer, who lies closer to the center, has said he supports the Israeli government’s military offensive efforts to take out Hamas terrorists. The Westchester County executive said he believes in a peaceful two-state solution, but criticized Palestinians for “break[ing]” peace “many times in the past.”
“It takes both sides to be committed to peace,” Latimer said during the debate. “It doesn’t make sense if we’re going to look at this as a one-sided issue and the anti-Israel approach, which the incumbent has taken over this period of time.”
Latimer is among the top beneficiaries of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which according to Politico had contributed more than $600,000 to his campaign as of February. The Washington Post reported pro-Israel groups have spent around $16 million “attacking Bowman,” $14 million of which has been used for ads.
But in a last-ditch effort to maintain his incumbent seat, Bowman hosted a rally Saturday in Mott Haven alongside U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders — arguably the two most well-known progressive pols in the country. Bowman and those who support him argue his election is about strength in numbers over funding, Sanders on social media yesterday saying that the NY-16 race is important for “the people of New York to tell billionaires and their corporate PACs that no, they cannot buy our democracy.”
At the rally, Bowman doubled down on his stance against Israel’s military offensive and called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
“We are not going to stand silent while U.S. tax dollars kill babies and women and children,” the incumbent said in front of a crowd of hundreds. “It is on all of us to save our democracy and save our collective humanity because this race, this race is about our collective humanity.”
Neither Bowman’s nor Latimer’s campaign had responded to Bronx Times questions about how they’re feeling heading into Primary Election Day before this story was published.
NY-14 race
While the Bowman-Latimer contest is the one garnering the most interest in the Bronx, there are other competitive primaries happening today.
Incumbent Ocasio-Cortez, 34, is facing challenger Marty Dolan for New York’s 14th Congressional District. Ocasio-Cortez, or AOC as she’s more widely known, made history when her grassroots campaign emerged victorious during the 2018 primary midterms against longtime NY-14 Democratic incumbent Joe Crowley — and has since been able to fend off all challengers who have come her way.
But Dolan, a 66-year-old retired insurance executive, has told the Bronx Times he believes the time is right for a primary bid against Ocasio-Cortez — saying she and other progressive politicians have actually made the city worse in terms of addressing social issues.
Assembly District 77, 82 races
On the statewide level, there are two competitive primaries for the State Assembly 77th and 82nd Districts.
In AD-77 — which covers the neighborhoods of Claremont, Concourse, Mount Eden, Highbridge and Morris Heights — Bronx voters will choose between incumbent Landon Dais and challenger Leonardo Coello.
Dais, a 43-year-old former attorney, was elected to fill the seat vacated by former Assembly Member Latoya Joyner earlier this year. But now he has to secure his spot on the assembly over 48-year-old Coello — a Bronx native and familiar face at local community meetings who works as the Bronx borough director for the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs.
At the P.S. 11 polling site in Highbridge Tuesday afternoon in the 77th Assembly District, an election coordinator told the Bronx Times turnout was good with 85 voters as of 1 p.m. — more than the nine-day early voting period.
Linda, a voter at P.S. 11 Tuesday afternoon who did not offer her last name, told the Bronx Times she always votes because they “shape up what’s to come” in government, and “they carry a voice and that’s how it gets heard.” Although she declined to say who she voted for, Linda said she received mailers from both Dais and Coello today. She said she’s lived in Assembly District 77 since 1970.
Shay, a 75-year-old voter at P.S. 11 who has lived in the district for 23 years, told the Bronx Times he always vote in general elections but not usually in the primaries. Hey just happened to see the voting signs after getting off a bus today.
“They’re not that visible out here,” Shay said of the candidates in the neighborhood.
But even so, Shay ran into a Dais staffer who “gave a good synopsis of what he achieved” during his first few months on the Assembly. He told the Bronx Times he cast his ballot for Dais.
In the East Bronx’s 82nd Assembly District, longtime incumbent Michael Benedetto, now in his late 70s, is facing familiar challenger and progressive candidate Jonathan Soto. The last time Soto, a 39-year-old former organizer for Ocasio-Cortez, squared up against Benedetto was in 2022, where he ended up securing 36% of the total vote.
Soto told the Bronx Times via text Tuesday afternoon he’s proud of his campaign.
“Win or lose, our team and community are proud of the positive vision of a beautiful Bronx we’ve put forward,” he said. “Our work doesn’t end on Election Day, and I’m looking forward to continue organizing for fully-funded schools, truly affordable housing, clean air and water, and worker power for the 82nd Assembly District.”
At P.S. X012 Lewis and Clark School in Westchester Square Tuesday afternoon, poll worker Rashid Ahmed — who has been a poll worker for the past five election cycles — said 25 people had cast their votes in the 82nd Assembly District by about 2:30 p.m.
When asked if the turnout is comparable to previous election cycles, Ahmed said “it depends on the political atmosphere and how much people know.”
Edna DeMonte, another 82nd Assembly District voter who lives on Silver Street where Lewis and Clark School is located — declined to divulge who she voted for. But, the 75-year-old said she’d “support any candidate that’s honest, truthful, and does the right thing for everybody.”
Voting
Unofficial voter check-ins on primary day showed 16,190 Bronxites had already cast their ballots as of 3 p.m. on June 25 — including those who picked their candidates during the early voting period from June 15-June 23. That’s compared to 33,495 in Queens, 34,208 in Brooklyn, and 30,910 in Manhattan, according to the New York City Board of Elections (BOE). Staten Island doesn’t have any primary races this year.
The polls are open until 9 p.m. for the primary election. To find your polling site or to view a sample ballot type your address into the BOE’s locator at findmypollsite.vote.nyc. For more information, visit the BOE website, call 866-VOTE-NYC (866-868-3692) or email vote@boe.nyc.ny.us.
Emily Swanson, Maya Stahl and Gabriele Holtermann contributed to this report.
This is a developing story, last updated at 6:08 p.m. on June 25. Check back all day for updates.
Reach Camille Botello at cbotello@schnepsmedia.com. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
