Jamaal Bowman facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jamaal Bowman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 16th district
In office January 3, 2021 – January 3, 2025
Preceded by	Eliot Engel
Succeeded by	George Latimer
Personal details
Born	(1976-04-01) April 1, 1976 (age 48) New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Melissa Oppenheimer
Children	3
Education	Potomac State College University of New Haven (BA) Mercy College (MA) Manhattanville College (EdD)

Jamaal Anthony Bowman (born April 1, 1976) is an American politician and former educator who served from 2021 to 2025 as the United States representative for New York's 16th congressional district.

Bowman is the founder and former principal of the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, a public middle school in Eastchester, Bronx. He defeated 16-term incumbent Eliot Engel in the 2020 Democratic primary and was first elected to Congress in November that year. He was a member of the Squad, an informal group of leftist members of the House Democratic Caucus.

On October 26, 2023, Bowman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for willfully setting off a false fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building. In exchange for his guilty plea, the charge was dropped. On December 7, the House of Representatives voted 214–191 to censure him for the fire alarm incident. In 2024, Bowman ran for reelection but lost to Westchester County executive George Latimer in the district's Democratic primary. Bowman was the first of two Democratic incumbents of the 2024 election cycle to lose a primary along with Cori Bush. He also was the first member of the Squad to lose a primary.

Early life and education

Bowman was born in Manhattan, a borough of New York City. He lived with his grandmother in the East River Houses in East Harlem during the week and with his mother and sisters in Yorkville on the Upper East Side on weekends. His grandmother died when he was eight years old, after which he lived full time on the Upper East Side. At age 16, he moved with his family to Sayreville, New Jersey. He attended Sayreville War Memorial High School, where he played on the football team.

Bowman briefly attended Potomac State Junior College in West Virginia before earning a Bachelor of Arts in sports management from the University of New Haven in 1999. At the latter institution, he played college football as a linebacker for the New Haven Chargers. Bowman later earned a Master of Arts in counseling from Mercy College and a Doctor of Education in educational leadership from Manhattanville College.

Teaching career

After earning his undergraduate degree, Bowman decided not to pursue a career in sports management. Upon the suggestion of a family friend who worked for the New York City Department of Education, Bowman began working as an educator. His first job was as a crisis management teacher in a South Bronx elementary school. In 2009, he founded Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, a public middle school in the Bronx.

As principal of Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, Bowman curated a "wall of honor" featuring likenesses of prominent Black, Latino, and Asian individuals. Its honorees included Martin Luther King Jr., Sonia Sotomayor, Cynthia McKinney, Mutulu Shakur, and Assata Shakur.

Bowman became a leading advocate against standardized testing, calling it "slavery". His blog on the role of standardized testing received national attention. He wrote that high-stakes testing had a role in perpetuating inequalities, including turnover, tumult, and a vicious cycle it creates in students' and educators' lives, saying performance assessments damage a school's ability to teach.

Bowman also advocated for children to receive arts, history, and science education in addition to the basics of literacy and numeracy. Bowman's school policy used a restorative justice model to address the school-to-prison pipeline. After 10 years as principal, he left the job to focus on his congressional campaign.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2020

The progressive Justice Democrats recruited Bowman to run for the United States House of Representatives in New York's 16th congressional district, represented by 16-term incumbent Eliot Engel. Engel had served as a member of the House since 1989 and as chair of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs since the first session of the 116th United States Congress. Bowman was inspired to run by the insurgent 2018 campaign of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and called his platform "anti-poverty and anti-racist", with support for housing, criminal justice reform, education, Medicare for All, and a Green New Deal. No Republican even filed, meaning that whoever won the Democratic primary was virtually assured of victory in November. Registered Democrats in the district outnumbered registered Republicans by more than four to one, so a Republican challenger would have faced very steep odds in any case.

Bowman's campaign criticized Engel's record on foreign policy and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bowman's endorsements from the Sunrise Movement and the New York Working Families Party assisted with fundraising despite being well behind Engel. He was also endorsed by Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and the editorial board of The New York Times.

Bowman won the primary on July 17, 2020, with 55% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated Conservative nominee Patrick McManus with 84% of the vote.

2022

Bowman was challenged in the Democratic primary by Westchester County legislator Vedat Gashi, who was endorsed by Bowman's predecessor and 2020 primary opponent, Eliot Engel. Bowman won the primary with 54% of the vote, and the general election with 64% of the vote.

2024

A frequent critic of U.S. support for Israel during the Gaza-Israel conflict, Bowman was challenged by pro-Israel Westchester County Executive George Latimer in the Democratic primary. The New York Times called the contest "a marquee showcase of the party's divisions over the Israel-Hamas war".

The primary was the most expensive House of Representatives primary in U.S. history, with $15 million in outside spending benefiting Latimer's campaign. Much of the outside spending came from groups affiliated with the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Latimer defeated Bowman, 58.59% to 41.41%.

Tenure

Bowman with Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary Xavier Becerra

Upon his swearing-in, Bowman joined The Squad, a group of progressive Democratic lawmakers. He has been described as far left.

In January 2021, following the storming of the United States Capitol, Bowman introduced the Congressional Oversight of Unjust Policing Act (COUP Act) to establish a commission to investigate how United States Capitol Police handled the storming of the Capitol and to look at potential ties of some of its members to white nationalism. Bowman said that introducing the bill was "critical when you look at the disparity in terms of how the Capitol Police responded to the insurrection on Wednesday, versus how they responded to—not just [Black Lives Matter] protestors this summer, but other people of color, and people who are disabled, historically". The legislation came after Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer called for the Capitol Police chief's resignation.

On November 5, 2021, Bowman was one of six House Democrats to break with their party and vote against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act because it did not include the Build Back Better Act.

Bowman was among the 46 House Democrats who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.

Fire alarm incident and House censure

Bowman pulling the alarm

On September 30, 2023, while House Democrats were attempting to delay a vote on a continuing resolution to fund the government ahead of a midnight deadline, Bowman pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building, causing the building to be evacuated for an hour and a half. Bowman initially claimed that he had set off the alarm by accident, telling reporters, "I thought the alarm would open the door". His office released "suggested talking points" for political allies, which reiterated the claim that the alarm was an accident and called some Republicans "Nazis", language Bowman said he had not approved. Then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy alleged that the fire alarm was a delaying tactic, and promised punishment for Bowman. Other House Republicans suggested measures ranging from censure to expulsion.

After a Capitol Police investigation, Bowman accepted a deal in which he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor crime of willfully or knowingly falsely pulling a fire alarm, paid the maximum fine of $1,000, and wrote a letter of apology to police; in exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against him after three months.

On December 7, 2023, the House censured Bowman for the incident by a 214–191 vote, with three Democrats joining Republicans in censuring him. Afterwards, the House Ethics Committee dropped its review of Bowman's actions as moot.

Foreign and defense policy

In September 2021, Bowman voted in favor of providing Israel with an additional $1 billion in aid to fund its Iron Dome missile defense system. His vote was controversial among members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), and sparked debate within the DSA about whether it should require that its members support Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel. A spokesman confirmed in October 2023 that Bowman had let his DSA membership expire in 2022 following DSA's response to his vote. But in May 2024, Bowman rejoined the organization and was endorsed by its New York City chapter. This came as he faced a strong primary challenge from George Latimer, who was endorsed by many pro-Israel lobby groups.

Bowman was among 51 House Democrats who voted against the final passage of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. Explaining his vote, he said, "it is astounding how quickly Congress moves weapons but we can't ensure housing, care, and justice for our veterans, nor invest in robust jobs programs for districts like mine."

On July 18, 2023, Bowman and eight other progressive Democrats voted against a congressional non-binding resolution proposed by August Pfluger that "the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state", that Congress rejects "all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia", and that "the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel".

On October 25, Bowman and eight other progressive Democrats, along with Republican Thomas Massie, voted against a resolution supporting Israel following the October 7 Hamas-led attack on the country.

Liberal Israel lobby group J Street withdrew its endorsement of Bowman on January 29, 2024, citing the "framing and approach" of his response to the Hamas attack. J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami said that Bowman had "gone too far".

Committee assignments

• Committee on Education and the Workforce
  • Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education
• Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Energy (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Black Caucus
• Congressional Progressive Caucus
• Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus

Electoral history

2020

2022

Bowman at Messiah Baptist Church in New York

2024

Personal life

Bowman lives with his wife, Melissa Oppenheimer, and their three children in Yonkers, New York. His wife was upset about his decision to run for office for "the first eleven months", Bowman said on an episode of The Carlos Watson Show.

Bowman is a fan of New York hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. He described hip-hop as a "culture that is created by teenagers who were forgotten about, and because they were forgotten about, they were forced to come together and create something beautiful". Bowman drew inspiration from the Wu-Tang Clan during his underdog campaign, and has frequently been seen in a Wu-Tang Clan emblazoned face covering during the COVID-19 pandemic, which GQ noted allowed Bowman to send voters a message.

From 2011 to 2014, Bowman maintained a blog on which he promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories. After the blog was reported on by The Daily Beast, Bowman said he regretted his posts. In May 2024, The Daily Beast revealed that Bowman's personal YouTube account was subscribed to dozens of fringe conspiracy channels, at least several of which he had subscribed to since being elected to Congress. In response, Bowman denied knowledge of any of the channels or their content.

See also

• List of African-American United States representatives
• Progressivism in the United States § In the 21st century
• List of United States representatives expelled, censured, or reprimanded