John,

After nearly three months of hiding in his second home in Maryland, Congressman Eliot Engel finally made his way back to his district in the Bronx.

Yesterday, at a community event addressing the recent protests in the city, Eliot Engel was caught telling Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz, Jr.:

"If I didn't have a primary, I wouldn't care."

He then said it again after Díaz asked him to repeat himself.

"If I didn't have a primary, I wouldn't care."

It's time for NY-16 to vote new leadership into Congress. Someone who does care about this community and is willing to fight for them. Will you split a contribution of $5 or more to the Working Families Party and our campaign right now to make sure we can beat Eliot Engel on June 23?

Contribute $5 »

Many of the voters we've talked to in NY-16 use the word "absent" to describe Eliot Engel. But after today, another word comes to mind when describing him: "disappointment."

When our community was seeing one of the highest rates of COVID-19 in the nation — Eliot Engel wasn't there.

When Eliot Engel promised he'd be in-district to give out face masks and PPE in person — he didn't bother showing up.

While our communities grieve the murders of innocent Black folks at the hands of the police — Eliot Engel shows up at a community rally in the Bronx and says that if he didn't have a primary, he wouldn't care.

Eliot Engel has represented this district for more than three decades. Yet he is willing to say out loud that he only cares about this community when his political position is threatened. If that's not taking us for granted, I don't know what is.

And as the candidate who is running against him for Congress, I can tell you this:

I've been here, in New York's 16th District, in person — through the coronavirus pandemic, through the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, through record unemployment, school closings, and more.

I've talked to my neighbors, voters, and community members — and we're tired of the same old politics. We want — and we're ready — to fight for bold, progressive change.

I'm ready to take this fight to Congress, and I'm asking you if you can join me. Please, chip in $5 or whatever you're able to and help support my campaign in the final days leading up to the primary.

WFP is a critical partner in this fight and I know they'll stop at nothing to help us win this race. Every dollar you give will go towards voter outreach and scaling our campaign strategy upwards:

Contribute $5 »

Thank you,

Jamaal Bowman

PS: Once you've made your gift, can you forward this email along to everyone you know? We need to make sure as many people as possible in New York and across this country know that Eliot Engel does not care about us.

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Paid for by Working Families Party National PAC (81 Prospect St., Brooklyn, NY).