Allies of Rep. Jamaal Bowman are already buzzing about a possible 2026 comeback after his humiliating loss to Westchester County Executive George Latimer in the Democratic primary.
While Bowman will soon be enjoying retirement as a disgraced former congressman, progressives are plotting about a possible challenge to Rep. Ritchie Torres.
“Many people I spoke to want this to happen and personally I think it makes sense,” said Bhaskar Sunkara, a longtime Democratic Socialist big shot now serving as president of The Nation, a far-left magazine. “I think it’s plausible and I think he would be viable.”
Torres, the first gay Afro-Latino in Congress, represents the neighboring 15th district, a much poorer area in the Bronx where Team Bowman believes his socialist message could resonate.
Bowman’s support for a ceasefire in Gaza that would leave Hamas in power, and his public embrace of cranks who celebrated the Oct. 7 massacre, helped spur a backlash among Jewish voters in the Westchester portion of his district.
But in The Bronx slice of his district, Bowman took 84% of the vote.
Days before the primary, with the writing on the wall, Bowman and socialist allies Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx) rallied in St. Mary’s Park.
The venue is miles outside Bowman’s district — and sits in the heart of Torres country.
There is also no love lost between Bowman and Torres, one of the most relentlessly pro-Israel Democrats in Congress.
While Torres never quite managed an endorsement of Latimer, the two congressmen sparred in the closing days of the race, and the disdain was palpable.
“I care as much about his opinion on me as I do about his opinion on how to properly pull a fire alarm or his opinion on how to remain in Congress,” Torres sneered in a June 17 post on X.
Bowman meanwhile said Torres’ support for Israel was a plot “to gain political power for himself.”
Rumors have been swirling that Torres, 36, has his eyes on the governor’s mansion.
Torres declined to comment — but his allies were adamant his lock on the district was impregnable.
“Just sour grapes,” sniffed Chris Coffey, a longtime New York political consultant and CEO of Tusk Strategies. “The far left has been threatening Ritchie certainly since Oct. 7 and before . . . Ritchie works really, really hard in his district, he is very well liked in his district.”
In addition to nearly $10 million in his campaign war chest, and an iron dome of support from Jews in Riverdale, Torres expects to have considerable financial resources from pro-Israel allies and the backing of Latinos.
