Pro-Israel and local donors power Latimer to big lead over Bowman in funds for primary

A deluge of campaign donations from Israel supporters and Westchester County residents has given George Latimer a huge fundraising edge over U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman as they start their primary battle.

Federal campaign finance reports filed last week by the two Democrats offered the first glimpse of how their clashing views on Israel and Latimer's familiarity to local voters translate into dollars to back their bids for Congress.

Latimer came out way ahead with $1.4 million in donations, the bulk of it flowing from his supporters in less than four weeks after he launched his campaign on Dec. 6. That was nearly double what Bowman raised in the last three months of 2023, his strongest fundraising quarter by far since he took office in 2021.

Just as striking was the large sum that donors channeled to Latimer through a pro-Israel group, and the wide disparity in local donations versus those that came from around the U.S.

The end result was a lopsided fundraising start for the June 25 primary for New York's 16th Congressional District. Latimer, Westchester's top elected official and a fixture in politics for 35 years, had $1.3 million on hand after expenses as of Dec. 31. Bowman, a two-term congressman and outspoken progressive, had $631,000 in his coffers, less than half of what his challenger had.

Donating through AIPAC site

More than 40% of Latimer's donations — a hefty $607,000 — came to him through the website of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, according to his filing. AIPAC channels support to office holders and candidates who back Israel and has added Latimer to that large cast, enabling donors to contribute directly to him through AIPAC's online portal.

That haul reflects a stark, dominant contrast in the race: Bowman is an Israel critic who has excoriated the government for the civilian toll of its war against Hamas in Gaza; Latimer, on the other hand, firmly supports Israel and was urged to take on Bowman by Jewish leaders in Westchester and by AIPAC itself.

Many supporters signaled agreement with Latimer on that issue by donating in droves through the AIPAC site, rather than through Latimer's campaign website.

Among them was Mark Alcott, an attorney from New Rochelle who sent the $6,600 maximum amount through AIPAC within days of Latimer's campaign launch.

In an email response to the USA Today Network, Alcott explained that he has long supported Latimer, whom he praised as a "doer," a moderate and a coalition builder. But another important factor led him to donate this time through AIPAC's site: Latimer's strong support for the U.S.-Israeli relationship and opposition to antisemitism.

By contrast, Alcott saw Bowman as "an extremist" who's often on "on the losing side of very lopsided votes," and whose pulling of a firm alarm at a House office building last year was "childish and dangerous."

"And Bowman is an extreme Israel-hater, Hamas-enabler, and antisemitism-denier," Alcott wrote. "He does not represent me or the views of our district."

Doug Forand, a spokesman for Latimer's campaign, attributes the flood of AIPAC-channeled donations to "strongly motivated" constituents who feel Bowman isn't representing their interests on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"This is an an important issue, and he should be paying attention to the voters," instead of making "provocative" statements about the conflict, Forand said in an interview with the USA Today Network.

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Bill Niedhardt, a Bowman campaign spokesman, countered that donations steered by AIPAC are tainted by the group's support for right-wing office holders and by the funding it gets from Republican mega-donors. He singled out its endorsements of "pro-insurrection Republicans" in Congress who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

"George Latimer would not be running right now if he wasn't recruited by pro-insurrection Republicans," he said.

AIPAC backs pro-Israel Republicans and Democrats alike, including 19 of the 24 House members from New York who are seeking re-election this year (Latimer is the only non-incumbent from New York on its list). Its portal funneled $4.3 million to Democrats and $2.5 million to Republicans in the fourth quarter of 2023, an AIPAC spokesman said.

Local donors versus a national base

Another sharp contrast is the amount of home-grown funding emanating from areas in and around the 16th District, which takes in the southern half of Westchester County and Wakefield neighborhood of the Bronx.

Fully 73% of Latimer's itemized individual donations came from any parts of Westchester and the Bronx, compared to just 9% of Bowman's, according to a USA Today Network analysis of their donor lists. In Latimer's case, that meant nearly $1 million in local donations, something he and his campaign tout as evidence of strong grassroots support.

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Bowman's donations, by contrast, come from all over the U.S. — 38 states and Washington, D.C. — with just $45,000 of his itemized donations coming from Westchester and the Bronx. That was roughly the same amount that came to him from Texas donors and less than the $64,000 arriving from California.

That wider base reflects Bowman's national profile in progressive movements and as a member of "the squad," the small, informal group of House Democrats who occupy the party's left flank.

"It's actually not bad to have a movement behind you," Niedhardt said in defense of Bowman's out-of-district donations.

Latimer drew a similar contrast when he announced his $1.4 million haul: “I’m honored and humbled with the depth of grassroots energy that is powering this campaign," he said in a statement. "But I’m running against an incumbent with a national fundraising network, and we know he’ll be able to rely on outside money for his campaign."

Latimer's donors hailed from 14 states and Washington, D.C. But the vast majority came from Westchester, which he has led as county executive for six years and where he has held various public offices for 35 years in all.

His local donations swamped Bowman's. Latimer collected $166,000 from New Rochelle residents alone. Supporters living in the Scarsdale ZIP code shelled out a combined $226,000 for the Latimer campaign — five times the amount Bowman got from all of Westchester and the Bronx.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY elections: Latimer doubles Bowman in campaign cash for Dem primary