
Daily Kickoff: Bowman’s DSA outreach + AIPAC, DMFI back McBath over Bourdeaux
👋 Good Tuesday morning!
It’s primary day in Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia, and runoff day in Texas.
After Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s (R-NC) primary defeat last week, eyes are on Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, where Cawthorn ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is fending off a primary challenge from businesswoman Jennifer Strahan and five others hoping to unseat the controversial freshman. Strahan has the backing of the Republican Jewish Coalition PAC, which made its rare endorsement against a sitting member of Congress in March.
In Georgia’s 7th Congressional District, Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) and Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA) go head to head in the newly drawn district in Atlanta’s northeastern suburbs. McBath has the backing of AIPAC and nabbed an endorsement from Democratic Majority for Israel last week, while Bourdeaux was endorsed by J Street PAC, which backed her in 2020. More on the Georgia 7th race below.
Georgia’s runoff rule dictates that a candidate needs to hit 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff, increasing the likelihood that at least one of the races goes until June.
It’s déjà vu in Texas as Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) attempts to fend off a challenge from progressive activist and attorney Jessica Cisneros, who is endorsed by J Street. Cuellar pulled ahead of Cisneros when she primaried him in 2020, eking out a 52-48 percent win that year. The United Democracy Project, AIPAC’s super PAC, has poured $2 million into the district to boost Cuellar in the run-up to the runoff. The recent leak of a SCOTUS draft opinion on Roe v. Wade has complicated efforts by Cuellar — the only Democrat in Congress who does not support abortion rights — to hold the seat.
Two state-wide races in Georgia are set to provide critical tests of former President Donad Trump’s continued influence over the GOP. The Republican gubernatorial and secretary of state primaries pit Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — who became targets of Trump for refusing to cooperate with his efforts to reverse the state’s 2020 presidential election results — against former Sen. David Perdue and Rep. Jody Hice, both of whom were endorsed by Trump. Perdue is expected to lose by a sizable margin, while polling shows the Raffensperger/Hice race as being much closer.
scoop
Socialist staffer on Jamaal Bowman’s team details congressman’s efforts to placate DSA

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) speaks at the National Action Network’s (NAN) three-day annual national convention on April 07, 2022 in New York City.
Since he assumed office last year, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) has frequently found himself at odds with a high-profile far-left ally — the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — over differing approaches to Israel. While the details of such tensions have been largely unreported, a letter written by a Bowman staffer and posted to a private DSA message board outlines the extent to which the congressman’s office has, even amid fierce opposition, worked behind the scenes to reassure DSA leadership that Bowman remains broadly aligned with the group’s approach to Middle East policy, reports Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel.
‘Organizational crisis’: The letter — recently obtained by Jewish Insider — was written by Rajiv Sicora, a senior policy adviser in Bowman’s legislative office who describes himself as “a longtime socialist and one of several DSA members on the team.” “I support BDS, and have nothing but respect and solidarity for the many people who are trying in good faith to prioritize Palestine solidarity work in DSA,” Sicora, who focuses on climate and energy policy, wrote. “I’m posting here from a place of distress about the organizational crisis we find ourselves in. I want to offer some crucial context, clear up some profound misunderstandings, and offer a plea for deescalation.”
Clearing the air: The letter was published in mid-March, according to a source familiar with the DSA message board. It came shortly after the DSA’s National Political Committee had disbanded its BDS and Palestine Solidarity working group, following tensions with Bowman that had also exposed divisions within the DSA itself. “Nobody is under any obligation to like Bowman, and certainly not to re-endorse him,” Sicora explained in the letter. “But please understand that throughout this process, you’ve been repeatedly lied to by certain leaders of the anti-Bowman camp.”
Bowman’s response: Sicora did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement to JI, Bowman said, “This staffer is speaking in their personal capacity and they do not handle foreign affairs. All foreign affairs are handled by the Chief of Staff.”
Meeting ‘demands’: Bowman, a high-profile Squad member and former Bronx principal, isn’t the only DSA-backed House candidate this cycle who has butted heads with the grassroots advocacy group. But he appears to have taken a more conciliatory route, notwithstanding calls for his expulsion that had left him “blindsided” and “understandably pissed,” according to Sicora’s letter. “Nevertheless, Bowman immediately entered into a discussion with” the DSA’s BDS working group “about how to deescalate and find a way forward,” Sicora wrote, noting that Bowman had been presented with a series of “demands” in order to patch things over after his Israel trip.