"We just need a win": The left unites to take down Eliot Engel

Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, all of whom have shown caution in the past about backing primary challengers to incumbent Democrats, have endorsed Bowman. Justice Democrats and the Working Families Party, two left-wing groups that took different paths during the presidential race, announced they are coming together to spend more than a half-million dollars to elect Bowman. Former aides to Sanders and Warren have also publicly lined up behind Bowman.

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The all-hands-on-deck strategy is a striking show of unity after the presidential campaign ended with deep rifts on the left — and it’s had a catalytic effect on Bowman’s bid in the run-up to the June 23 primary. But their efforts have also exposed party fissures, spurring Democratic establishment powerhouses such as Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Jim Clyburn to throw their support behind Engel.

“What is that left phrase? We just need a win,” said Andom Ghebreghiorgis, another progressive candidate who challenged Engel this year but recently dropped out and endorsed Bowman. “People are investing a lot emotionally in this race because they see it as a down-ballot race where the policies of a Bernie, for example, which weren’t able to achieve victory on a national level, can at least be achieved on a congressional level.”

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