“This moment requires renewed and revitalized leadership across the country AND at the ballot box,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote Wednesday night. “Not only is Jamaal a profound community leader, but I believe he’d make a fantastic colleague in the United States House of Representatives.”
Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is serving his 16th term in the House.
He has reported raising more than $1.6 million through March — about three times as much as Bowman — but is facing a spirited June 23 primary amid criticism that he has not spent enough time in the district.
On Tuesday, Engel generated headlines after he repeatedly asked to speak at a Bronx news conference on protests over the killing by Minneapolis police of George Floyd, then said near a live microphone, “If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care.”
Bowman, cited the statement as a sign that it’s time for Engel to leave Congress.
Engel sought to clarify his remarks later in the day, saying in a statement that he had wanted to convey that he cares “deeply about what’s happening in this country” while he seeks reelection.
Ocasio-Cortez, one of four minority freshman lawmakers known on Capitol Hill as “the Squad,” has repeatedly made clear her willingness to buck party leaders since her arrival in Washington.
Engel enjoys the backing of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the political arm of the House Democratic caucus, in a heavily Democratic district in which the primary winner is all but assured of prevailing in the general election in November.
At her weekly news conference Thursday afternoon, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she supports Ocasio-Cortez and Engel in their reelection bids and wishes them both well.
She noted that Engel “has a unique privilege” in that he is both chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
“That wouldn’t happen again — that’s a lot of power,” Pelosi said, praising Engel as a lawmaker who “does a great job for New York.”
Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed two other challengers to House Democrats in this year’s elections. Business executive and activist Marie Newman defeated Rep. Daniel Lipinski in an Illinois district south of Chicago, while Rep. Henry Cuellar defeated Jessica Cisneros, an immigration attorney backed by Ocasio-Cortez.
