Warren endorses Jamaal Bowman over Eliot Engel in show of progressive support

Max Cohen
·1 min read

Sen. Elizabeth Warren backed progressive challenger Jamaal Bowman over longtime incumbent Rep. Eliot Engel on Tuesday, further fueling the endorsement slugfest in one of the nation's most watched primaries.

Warren (D-Mass.) is the latest national progressive icon to support Bowman — a middle school principal challenging a 16-term congressman and House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman in a New York district that spans from the Bronx to Westchester County.

"He is exactly the kind of person we need in Congress fighting for big, structural change,” Warren said in a statement. “Whether it's fighting for high-quality public schools, affordable housing, or rooting out systemic racism, Jamaal Bowman will be a champion for working people in Washington."

This undated photo, provided by his campaign, shows Jamaal Bowman, a first-time candidate who helped found the Cornerstone Academy of Social Action in 2009, who has picked up endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in his race against U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, a 16-term incumbent representing parts of the Bronx and suburban Westchester County. (Photo by Corey Torpie via AP)

Warren joins Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in backing Bowman, while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) all endorsed Engel in recent days.

"[Warren] knows it's not enough to keep electing Democrats that will only nibble around the edges, and it's why I am running to make big, structural change in New York's 16th District," Bowman wrote in a tweet.

Engel has served in the House since 1989 and is facing perhaps his toughest primary challenge in over 30 years. New York holds its primary on June 23.

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