#Rep. Eliot Engel slams rival Jamaal Bowman as phony Democrat, bad educator

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Rep. Eliot Engel and Jamaal Bowman, his challenger for the Bronx-Westchester 16th Congressional District.
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With his back against the wall and trying to avoid becoming the next Joe Crowley, embattled Rep. Eliot Engel is unleashing late attacks on rival Jamaal Bowman — accusing the insurgent of being a phony Democrat and a bad educator.

In pointed mailings being sent to constituents in the Bronx-Westchester 16th Congressional District, Engel says Bowman had been a member of the Independence Party and didn’t enroll as a Democrat until late in 2018, calling him “not a real Democrat.”

“He wasn’t even a Democrat when Donald Trump was elected president and he didn’t even vote in the most important Democratic primaries to elect Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as Democratic nominees for president,” Engel said.

“In 2008, Bowman wasn’t a Democrat and was a member of a party that ran John McCain for president and Sarah Palin for vice president against Barack Obama and Joe Biden … Bowman did not become a Democrat until he decided to run for Congress in 2018.”

Engel, 73, first elected in 1988, posted copies of Bowman’s voting record on his campaign website as nine days of early in-person voting for the June 23 Democratic primary begins Saturday. Many voters have already requested ballots to vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic.

“At this moment in history, we need a Democratic champion who can get things done on important Democratic priorities, not someone who wasn’t even a Democrat when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were making their historic runs for president.”

Engel then hits Bowman’s record as an educator. Until recently, Bowman had been the principal of the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action middle school in the Bronx.

Engel’s mailer said 81 percent of Bowman’s students “failed” the state standardized math test and 66 percent did not meet proficiency in English.

According to the city Department of Education’s report card for the 2018-2019 school year, only 25 percent of students at Cornerstone were proficient in math — nine percentage points lower than comparable schools based on poverty level and demographics. In English, 37 percent met the standard in English, about the same as comparable schools.

Bowman’s campaign said the late attacks from Engel smacked of desperation.

“It’s actually kind of remarkable just how bad Eliot Engel is at this. He realized way too late that he’s got a real race on his hands and he’s scrambling to make up for lost time — and it shows. It’s like he’s taken this district for granted for so long that he’s forgotten how to campaign,” said Bowman campaign manager Luke Hayes.

“No amount of desperate, last-minute attacks is going to make voters forget that Congressman Engel has ignored this district for decades, or that he said he wouldn’t care about Black Lives Matter protests if he didn’t have a primary.”

Bowman said, “For Eliot Engel to suggest that I, as a black man in America, would be for McCain and Palin over Barack Obama is just absurd. I have always supported Democratic candidates, and I was proud to vote for Obama in 2008 and 2012, and for Hillary Clinton in 2016.”

Meanwhile Bowman defended his record as principal of Cornerstone Academy for Social Action and called Engel’s attack cheap politics.

“In 2015, CASA middle school ranked No. 1 in New York City for improved test score average on the state’s English and math exams. That’s despite the fact that we don’t teach to the test, but educate the whole child,” Bowman said.

“That’s what my school is known for — growth. But Congressman Engel wouldn’t know that, because he doesn’t spend time in the district, and he’s certainly never taken the time to visit our school. If he had, he would also know that we’re a Title 1 school, located in a historically oppressed community, where nearly 90 percent of its students enter it with skills below grade level. Congressman Engel should have thought about that before he decided it was a good idea to attack my kids’ test scores for a pathetic political point.”

Even Engel supporters privately griped to The Post, wondering why it took so long for his campaign to put Bowman’s background under the microscope while the little-known insurgent scooped up endorsements from progressives including neighboring Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — who upset Crowley in a Democratic primary two years ago –and from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Engel has suffered brutal headlines in recent weeks — including criticism that he socially distanced himself from his Bronx-Westchester district by staying at his Maryland residence near D.C. during the peak of the COVID-pandemic.

When did show up at a press conference in the Bronx after looting triggered by the George Floyd police brutality death, Engel was caught on a hot mic asking Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. for an opportunity to speak. “If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care,” Engel was heard saying.