‘I’m glad [he] was defeated. I’m sorry his campaign is broke, but it’s only his fault and the fault of his campaign’ – Mark Mellman, president, Democratic Majority for Israel.
By Jon Levine | The New York Post
He finally ran out of other people’s money.
Disgraced Rep. Jamaal Bowman is begging for cash and painting himself as the victim in the wake of his bruising — and losing June primary fight against Westchester County Executive George Latimer.
The race was the most expensive in House history, and Bowman — who campaigned with surrogates who publicly celebrated Hamas terrorism –whined to donors about American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which spent $14.5 million to help unseat him.
“AIPAC spent more money against us than any other House primary – ever. I was public enemy number one and they spent almost twenty millions dollars to stop us,” the soon-to-be former member of the lefty House ‘squad’ said in a Aug. 14 campaign committee email.
“But that puts us in a bit of a predicament right now. After tallying up the spends, we’re ‘in the red.’ It would be an incredible help to our team if you could help us retire our campaign debt by chipping in a few dollars now,” the note continued.
It’s unclear how deep Team Bowman is in the hole until his next official filing, but his campaign burned through boatloads of cash in its final days — including more than $1.3 million in TV ads buys and digital advertising in June, FEC records show.
Bowman spent more than $5.3 million on the race while Latimer’s campaign dropped more than $5.6 million.
As of July, Bowman’s campaign reported more than $373,000 cash in the bank with debts of just over $141,000, according to his most recent Federal Election Commission filing.
“I’m glad Bowman was defeated. I am sorry [his campaign is] broke. But it’s only his fault and the fault of his campaign,” said Mark Mellman, president of the nonprofit Democratic Majority for Israel.
Insiders said consultant bills and fees can sneak up on campaigns.
“People often think that everything is paid before Election Day. It never happens that way,” said one Democratic consultant.
“Often times consultants send invoices after the election.”
Bowman, 48, a former Bronx principal at a school he founded who was elected in 2020, saw his political future implode when he infamously yanked a fire alarm in a Capitol office building in September 2023, claiming he thought it would open a door.
He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge, agreed to a $1,000 charge and was later censured by the House.
Bowman’s squad colleague, Rep. Cori Bush will also follow him out the door after losing her primary to Wesley Bell, another Democratic challenger.
Bowman did not return a request for comment. ##