‘[T]he bulk of party switches coincided with a three-week outreach by a nonprofit called Teach Action Fund to draw more Jewish voters into the pre-congressional election.‘

By Chris McKenna | The Journal News

A hefty pool of formerly undeclared and Republican voters in Westchester County voters have become Democrats to cast ballots in the June 25 primary between Rep. Jamaal Bowman and County Executive George Latimer.

Altogether, more than 2,300 Westchester voters in New York’s 16th Congressional District changed their party enrollments to Democratic between Dec. 1 and Feb. 14, the state’s deadline to change parties before the election, according to a voter list given to the USA Today Network New York by the County Board of Elections.

The records indicate voters began switching even before Latimer publicly launched his campaign to challenge the second-term incumbent on Dec. 6, following months of speculation that he would.

But the bulk of the party switches coincided with an outreach effort to Jewish voters in Westchester. According to the county’s list, some 1,880 voters changed parties to Democratic on or after Jan. 25, when a nonprofit called Teach Action Fund began a three-week push to draw more Jewish voters into the congressional primary.

In a press release on Monday, the group took credit for re-enrolling more than 1,660 of those voters through its “Westchester Unites” campaign, which consisted of a website and a blizzard of mailings, text messages, phone calls and home visits.

It claimed success with 13 percent of the voters in its targeted group, saying the outcome beat its goal of 10 percent and showed how motivated voters were for the primary.

“This election, the people on the ballot, and what they represent, have clearly ignited this community,” Dan Mitzner, policy director for Teach Action Fund, said in a statement.

“The success of this campaign is a true testament to their passion and dedication.”

Which Westchester voters switched their party affiliation?

More than 1,400 of the 2,312 voters who switched to the Democratic party since Dec. 1 previously had no party affiliation.

But some 840 were Republicans and 16 were Conservatives — all voters moved to cross party lines at least temporarily, possibly because of the candidates’ clashing views on Israel and its war to uproot Hamas in Gaza.

The newly minted Democrats represent less than 1% of the party’s voters in the heavily Democratic 16th District, but nearly 6% of those who cast ballots in the four-way primary that Bowman won in 2022.

Their numbers are large enough to swing a close race.

When told on Monday how many voters had changed parties, Bowman’s campaign zeroed in on the Republican contingent. Campaign spokesman Bill Neidhardt linked those voters with a GOP campaign donor holding a fundraiser for Latimer and big Republican donors who fund AIPAC, saying “it follows suit that a 501(c4) — Teach Action Fund — “is organizing Republicans to vote in a Democratic primary.”

“George Latimer should reject Republican interference in Democratic primaries, not base his campaign on it,” Neidhardt added.

Latimer’s campaign responded by accusing Bowman of hypocrisy, saying in a statement that he and his campaign had urged voters in social media posts and phone calls to re-enroll as Democrats while blasting Teach Action Fund for doing the same.

Latimer and his campaign, by contrast, had made no effort to re-register voters.

“This is the level of hypocrisy that voters have sadly come to expect from Congressmember Bowman,” the statement read.

“The mindset that there should be special rules for Bowman supporters while the same actions by others are somehow wrong is a Trumpian attack on the very concept of democracy.”

The tally of enrollment switches is only for Westchester and doesn’t include any made in the northern Bronx neighborhood that’s included in the 16 District. Most of the district consists of the southern half of Westchester.

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

Voters drawn to the Bowman-Latimer race who weren’t enrolled in the Democratic Primary had to switch because New York allows only voters registered with a party to take part in its primaries.

Feb. 14 was the last date to make that change to be eligible to vote on June 25.

Who will these voters back?

Teach Action Fund didn’t endorse any candidate in its re-enrollment pitch.

But its outreach to Jewish voters clearly favors Latimer, who has strongly supported Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack while Bowman has denounced the civilian toll in Gaza.

Latimer is supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and got a flood of campaign donations through its website, many made by Westchester residents.

Still, some Westchester voters who switched parties may back the progressive incumbent. Like Teach Action Fund, Bowman and his campaign also appealed to voters not enrolled as Democrats to change parties.

Teach Action Fund says it sent a total of nearly 78,000 mailers to voters to encourage them to re-enroll as Democrats.

Its video making that pitch was viewed 324,000 times, and its outreach included 24,876 texts, 6,473 calls and 1,178 home visits, the group said.

Teach Action Fund is affiliated with Teach Coalition, a group that advocates for public funding to support Jewish schools in New York and six other states.

Teach Coalition announced plans in January a $1.6 million campaign to register and mobilize Jewish voters in Westchester for this year’s elections. ##

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