Former middle-school principal Jamaal Bowman, a progressive Democrat, is well ahead of longtime Rep. Eliot Engel in their primary. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption
As protests stemming from George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police spread across the country, Black progressives appear to have had a good night in Democratic primaries Tuesday, while some Republicans endorsed by President Trump did not fair as well on the GOP side.
Three races in New York and Virginia, and perhaps one in Kentucky, highlight what could be the start of something important in Democratic politics — the surge of African-American candidates.
As the Cook Political Report's Dave Wasserman put it, Democratic voters "showed an unprecedented desire to nominate women" and this year, there's "another sea change in desire, this time towards Black candidates."
In 2018, Dem voters showed an unprecedented desire to nominate women. In 2020, we're witnessing another sea change in desire, this time towards Black candidates:
Jamaal Bowman in #NY16
Mondaire Jones in #NY17
Cameron Webb in #VA05All winning in landslides so far.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) June 24, 2020
What that could mean for the 2020 presidential race is notable as well. If Democrats have two key pillars of their base fired up and politically activated — women and Black voters — that could be a game-changer, as President Trump's ratings continue to suffer.
Looking at last night's results, the upset of the night appears to belong to Jamaal Bowman, a former middle-school principal from the Bronx. He is well ahead of longtime Democratic incumbent Eliot Engel with more than 60% of the vote. Many races have not been called yet because of the significant number of absentee ballots that remain to be counted.
Bowman began to surge in recent weeks after Engel, asking to speak at an event, was caught on hot mic saying, "If I didn't have a primary, I wouldn't care."
!!! @RepEliotEngel heard on hot mic asking @rubendiazjr for a turn to speak, says twice, "If I didn't have a primary, I wouldn't care."
Diaz responds, "Don't do that to me."
(h/t @News12BX livestream) pic.twitter.com/eQnkzLiEId
— Emily Ngo (@emilyngo) June 2, 2020
That was in addition to a reporter ringing the House Foreign Affairs chairman's doorbell a month ago at his home in a tony Washington suburb to find him there rather than in his home district, as New York suffered from the coronavirus.
Bowman wound up raising $2 million and surging against the 16-term incumbent who hasn't faced a competitive primary in 20 years.
Another New York seat, which had been held by longtime retiring Rep. Nita Lowey, has 33-year-old Mondaire Jones well ahead. The former Westchester County law office worker gained momentum in recent weeks and now leads by double-digits. If the result holds up, and Jones wins this fall, he'd be the first openly gay black congressman.
Progressive star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, by the way, was facing a primary in her first time standing for reelection. But she easily dispatched former CNBC reporter Michelle Caruso-Cabrera with 73% of the vote.
Trump-backed Republicans falter
Meanwhile, in North Carolina, perhaps the surprise of the night was a 24-year old motivational speaker, Madison Cawthorn. He upset a Trump-backed candidate to replace Mark Meadows, who stepped down from the U.S. House to become Trump's chief of staff. Cawthorn was paralyzed from the waist down after a 2014 car accident.
And in Kentucky, Trump tweeted his opposition to giving another term to a sitting congressman, Thomas Massie, who forced a vote on an economic relief package. Massie won overwhelmingly with almost 90% of the vote. Members of Republican leadership backed Massie's primary opponent after Massie forced the vote. But after racist tweets surfaced from that opponent, Massie cruised.
Results are still slow to roll in in the marquee Democratic Kentucky Senate primary, where progressive upstart state Rep. Charles Booker and former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath squared off for the right to take on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Booker has seen a boon after speaking out and taking a leadership role in Black Lives Matter protests stemming from the death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville. Taylor was shot and killed by police.
McGrath had brought in a whopping $41 million, was endorsed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and had been seen as the overwhelming front-runner before the protests.
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June 24, 2020 at 11:17PM
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Primary Election Results: Black Progressives Surge - NPR
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