After earning his undergraduate degree, Bowman decided not to pursue a career in sports management. Upon the suggestion of a family friend who worked for the New York City Department of Education, Bowman began working as an educator. Bowman's first job was as a crisis management teacher in a South Bronx elementary school. In 2009, he founded Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, a public middle school in the Bronx. Bowman became a leading advocate against standardized testing. His blog on the role of standardized testing has received national attention. He has written about high-stakes testing's role in perpetuating inequalities, including the turnover, tumult, and vicious cycle it creates in the lives of students and educators, as assessment performance damages a school's ability to teach and, subsequently, the quality of the education upon which the student is assessed. By the mid-2010s, a quarter of Bowman's students had opted out of standardized testing. He also advocated for children to receive arts, history, and science education in addition to the basics of literacy and numeracy. Bowman's school policy used a restorative justice model to address the school-to-prison pipeline. After ten years as principal, he left the job to focus on his congressional campaign.
Politics
The Justice Democrats recruited Bowman to run for the United States House of Representatives in, represented by 15-term incumbent Eliot Engel, in the 2020 elections. Engel has served as a member of the House since 1989 and as the Chair of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs since the first session of the 116th United States Congress. Bowman was inspired to run by the insurgent 2018 campaign of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and described his platform as "anti-poverty and anti-racist" with support for housing, criminal justice reform, education, Medicare for All, and a Green New Deal. No Republican even filed, meaning that whoever won the Democratic primary would be all but assured of victory in November. However, registered Democrats in the district outnumber registered Republicans by more than four to one, meaning that any hypothetical Republican challenger would have faced nearly impossible odds in any case. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+24, it is the ninth-most Democratic district covering a significant portion of New York City. Bowman's campaign criticized Engel's record on foreign policy and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bowman's endorsements from the Sunrise Movement, and New YorkWorking Families Party assisted with fundraising despite being well behind Engel. Bowman was also endorsed by Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and the editorial board of The New York Times. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a large portion of ballots were cast absentee. However, because of Bowman's 26-point lead on election night, news outlets quickly started referring to him as the presumptive Democratic nominee. On July 17, 2020, based on their analysis of the absentee ballot count, the Associated Press called the primary race for Bowman. According to The New York Times, Bowman was a "prohibitive favorite" to win in November due to the 16th's heavily Democratic nature and the lack of GOP opposition.
Electoral history
2020 Democratic primary
Personal life
Bowman lives with his wife, Melissa Oppenheimer, and their three children in Yonkers, New York. Bowman is a fan of New York hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. He described hip-hop as a "culture that is created by teenagers who were forgotten about, and because they were forgotten about, they were forced to come together and create something beautiful.” Bowman drew inspiration from the Wu-Tang Clan during his underdog campaign, and has frequently been seen in a Wu-Tang Clan emblazoned face covering during the COVID-19 pandemic, which GQ noted allowed Bowman to express himself, as more casual branded-clothing might not convey the gravity of an aspirant Congressman and a suit with a more conventional face covering might not separate him from the incumbent.
