Rep. Eliot Engel, a powerful House committee chair who served decades in Congress, was defeated by a political newcomer in a stunning upset showing the power of the progressive …
Rep. Eliot Engel, a powerful House committee chair who served decades in Congress, was defeated by a political newcomer in a stunning upset showing the power of the progressive wing of the Democratic party, according to the Associated Press.
More than three weeks after polls closed in the New York primary, Jamaal Bowman was officially declared the winner Friday over incumbent Engel, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee – ending a 30 year career in Congress.
«The numbers are clear, and I will not be the Democratic nominee for the 16th Congressional District seat in the fall election,» Engel said. «Serving the people of the Bronx and Westchester in Congress has been the greatest privilege of my life, and what a remarkable 32 years it has been.»
Engel’s defeat at the hands of a progressive candidate who is also a person of color comes at a moment when racial justice is at the forefront of the national conversation. It also comes as progressives were looking for a win after the disappointment of Sen. Bernie Sanders ending his bid for president earlier this year.
Bowman called the win a «tremendous honor and privilege» in a live video posted to social media. He said his campaign was about «building coalitions across race, across class, across religion, across age, across our beautiful differences, leveraging our beautiful differences, to make the world a better place.
