New York Democrats who backed Israel thrived in their primaries on Tuesday, with two looking to unseat GOP incumbents who can no longer point to the nation as a key talking point against their opposition.
John Avlon won against educator Nancy Goroff in New York’s 1st Congressional District primary, and state Sen. John Mannion won against Air Force veteran Sarah Klee Hood in the 22nd District. They will look to unseat GOP Reps. Nick LaLota (R-NY) and Brandon Williams (R-NY), who are both vulnerable to challenges in their swing districts.
George Latimer, who is highly likely to win his general election contest in the 16th Congressional District, used his pro-Israel platform to unseat anti-Israel Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY). The success of the three Democrats could show a path for others to take if the party wants to win back firm control of Congress.
Starting on Long Island, Avlon beat Goroff about 70% to 30% with the backing of the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC, which said Avlon along with others it endorsed were facing primary opponents “who would not be pro-Israel champions in Congress.”
He will face LaLota, who has already blasted Avlon and Goroff on a variety of topics. LaLota launched a personal attack on Avlon’s comments about staying “in” Long Island rather than the preferred local lingo of staying “on” Long Island. Attacks on Avlon as a “fake Long Islander” might not be as potent a weapon as skewering the Manhattanite for taking an anti-Israel position.
Avlon hasn’t shied away from publicizing his support for Israel. After the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas, Avlon posted, “Shocking & horrifying terror attacks in Israel. As we learn more there was clearly an intelligence failure — but make no mistake: Hamas is the aggressor; and Israel has a right to defend itself. It deserves the support of all civilized nations, as the US demonstrates.”
Cook Political Report rates the district as “likely Republican.”
Mannion has a much easier path to unseating Williams, whose district is labeled “lean Democrat.” Mannion didn’t differ much from his primary opponent on Israel but did stand to the right of his opponent on abortion and healthcare. He beat Hood by about 62% to 38%.
The state senator represents much of the area, and he is a familiar commodity to his constituency, which may be better aligned with him than Williams after the district was recently redrawn to the benefit of Democrats. But Mannion does face allegations that he verbally abused staffers and is under investigation by the state’s Senate.
Mannion supports a two-state solution in Israel and believes the hostages held by Hamas need to be released. As for actions in the region concerning Israel, he believes more humanitarian aid is needed.
While Latimer followed a similar path to victory as Avlon and Mannion, leaning heavily into his support for Israel and his Jewish constituents, his general election contest will not be nearly as competitive. Latimer beat Bowman by 9 points on Tuesday. In 2022, Bowman crushed his GOP challenger, Miriam Flisser, by 64.2%-35.7%.
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The three candidates’ wins could indicate a coming shift by Democrats on how they view Israel, though criticism of Israel has not spelled doom for every incumbent this cycle.
However, a trend of moderating on various stances, including on Israel, could be a repeat of the recipe for success Democrats had in 2018, a year in which they captured the House with a wave of more centrist candidates.
