Can Republicans recreate Latimer-Bowman; what if N.Y. had ranked choice voting for president?

And how many bills are left for Hochul to consider? We'll tell you.

Good afternoon — it’s Wednesday and Purple Heart Day.

WEDENSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2024

TODAY’S CAPCON:

• A primary between two Democrats was defined by their positions on Israel. Can Republicans recreate the same scenario?

• What if New York had ranked choice voting for presidential elections and what would that mean?

• Hochul still has a lot of bills to consider before the end of the year.

🌧️ Tonight’s Weather: Albany: Partly cloudy, high 50s. New York City: Chance of rain, high 60s. (National Weather Service)

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There’s a lot to watch in this year’s election cycle. We’ll use this section to give you a quick look at campaign news that might interest you.

☑️ NY GOP hopes to use the formula that ousted a NY squad member

🏃 The primary race between Democrats George Latimer and U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman was defined by the war between Israel and Hamas, leading to the incumbent’s ouster. Can Republicans do the same?

Republicans in New York have tried for months to frame Democrats as apathetic to Jewish residents and the state of Israel after the deadly Oct. 7 attacks last year.

• During the legislative session, they criticized Democrats for not doing more to respond to an increase in recorded antisemitic incidents since those attacks.

Democrats have ignored that scrutiny for the most part and instead tried to navigate their defense of Israel without alienating voters critical of the country’s war strategy.

It’s a complex area of politics in which the line between criticism of the country and antisemitism has moved more than once since the war began.

We saw that define the primary this year between BOWMAN and LATIMER, the Westchester County executive.

• Bowman was a staunch critic of Israel who had referred to Israel’s attacks in Gaza as a “genocide.”

• Latimer courted the vote of local Jewish leaders, who then mobilized voters on his behalf.

Latimer won by about 10 points over Bowman, who had previously defeated a primary challenge comfortably in 2022.

Bowman wasn’t the only anti-Israel casualty. U.S. Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, another member of the “Squad,” on Tuesday became the second member of the progressive group to get ousted.

Bush fell in a Democratic primary to Wesley Bell, a St. Louis County prosecutor who benefited from enormous campaign funding from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby.

This as Republicans have framed themselves as the party with more support for Israel, which isn’t necessarily untrue.

• Several Democrats protested Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress last month. 

And we told you Tuesday about how Republicans have labeled Vice President Kamala HARRIS’ decision to pass on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh SHAPIRO for her running mate as antisemitic.

That same strategy is now being used in a race for state Senate close to the Bowman-Latimer district.