Progressive groups rescind endorsements of former Rep. Mondaire Jones

WASHINGTON — The Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC said Thursday it has rescinded its endorsement of former Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., after he endorsed the primary challenger to a top Progressive Caucus member and fellow Black New York Democrat, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, over Bowman’s criticism of Israel.

The progressive Working Families Party of New York also withdrew financial and organizational support for Jones Thursday, citing his endorsement and saying he has “strayed from the values and principles that made us proud to support him in 2020.”

It’s an unusual move for the Progressive Caucus, which has generally tried to adopt a big-tent approach to grow its membership and avoided adopting stringent ideological litmus tests, sometimes to the disappointment of left-wing allies.

“A number of factors led to the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC rescinding the endorsement of Mondaire Jones,” said the PAC’s executive director, Evan Brown, adding that the move “was a unanimous decision of our PAC board.”

The caucus’ campaign arm has been heavily invested in Bowman’s race, launching an ad campaign on his behalf last week. He serves on the CPC’s leadership team as vice chair for labor.

Bowman is locked in a fierce Democratic primary battle with George Latimer, the executive of Westchester County, where Israel’s war in Gaza has become a central issue. Bowman says “U.S. taxpayer dollars are going towards burning infants alive” while Latimer affirms his support for the Jewish state.

The June 25 primary has become a key flashpoint in the larger conflict between the Democrat mainstream and the insurgent left, which is looking to defend Bowman after he won his seat by ousting a 16-term pro-Israel incumbent in 2020.

Jones was also elected in 2020 amid the post-George Floyd surge of progressive activists who campaigned on a platform of Medicare for All, the Green New Deal and defunding the police. He and a colleague elected the same year were the first openly gay Black members of Congress in history.

Jones lost re-election in 2022 and is now running for a second term in Congress. He’s the leading Democrat in the race to take on Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who is seen as one of the more vulnerable Republicans in the country.

“I have no regrets about standing up for what I firmly believe in,” Jones said in a statement responding to the Progressive Caucus’ rebuke. “I have known and worked with George Latimer for years.”

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“Rep. Bowman and I have very different views on Israel,” Jones continued. “I have been horrified by his recent acceptance of the DSA endorsement, his denial of the sexual assault of Israeli women by Hamas on October 7, and his rush to call for a ceasefire before Israel could hardly begin to defend itself against the worst assault on Jews since the Holocaust.”

Earlier this week, Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., hinted at the move, calling Jones’ decision to back his former colleague’s rival “horrific.”

“Honestly, I’m just so disgusted by it,” she told NBC News. “This is a former colleague of his, an incumbent member who is a top-priority candidate for us, an incumbent for us in the Progressive Caucus.”

Jayapal said she believes Jones endorsed Latimer “because he thinks it’s obviously politically expedient, but I don’t, and it’s not the way we operate as progressives.”

“We can’t be inconsistent where we have a top-priority incumbent that we’re spending money on, and one of our candidates ... who is attacking that person,” she continued. “So we stand firmly behind Jamaal Bowman; we’re going to do everything we can to help Jamaal win. And I hope we have Jamaal back in Congress.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a fellow New York progressive who, like Bowman, is a member of “The Squad,” had called Jones’ endorsement of Latimer a “profound disappointment.”

“It is directly contradicting the Democratic unity that we need to practice in order for us to win the House and the presidency in November,” Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview this week. “There is enormous support for Bowman across the entire Democratic Party, from House leadership to the Black and Progressive caucuses.”