Jamaal Bowman launches new Built to Win super PAC

Former Rep. Jamaal Bowman is back. Less than a year after losing a hard-fought congressional Democratic primary battle, the unapologetically progressive politician is launching a new super PAC called Built to Win that aims to boost left-wing candidates in tight elections.

Bowman hopes that his new organization can serve as a counterweight to well-funded groups like the United Democracy Project that spend aggressively in Democratic primaries to boost more centrist and conservative candidates – including his own primary challenger, Rep. George Latimer.

Bowman told City & State that he has already received commitments “in the millions” from some people interested in backing the super PAC, though he said he expects many of its donations to come from grassroots donors.

Built to Win is specifically targeting nonwhite voters who have become disillusioned with the Democratic Party – a group that has been especially difficult for more traditional PACs to reach.

“We cannot only engage in organizing during the election cycle,” he said. “We have to engage in organizing consistently throughout the year, so people know that we’re not (just) there for their vote. We are there to support them, to empower them, in any way that we can.”

While some Democrats have reacted to softening support for the party among nonwhite voters by moving toward the right, Bowman believes that many of these voters want the Democrats to move further left, especially on economic issues and foreign policy. Built to Win plans to support candidates who endorse universal health care, affordable housing, fully funded public schools, Palestinian rights, immigration reform and an end to mass incarceration.

Bowman has ambitious plans for Built to Win. A section on the organization’s website titled “How We Win” mentions a digital and social media organizing strategy to engage and mobilize voters, a “seamless vote-by-mail program” that will assist voters in requesting and dropping off mail-in ballots and community engagement efforts that include civic education workshops and town halls.

The organization aims to be up and running in time for the 2026 election cycle. It will pilot its strategy in New York – where it hopes to play a role in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, congressional midterm elections and local races – before hopefully scaling up to the national level.

Bowman declined to name any specific candidates that Built to Win plans to support or oppose next year, though he did drop some hints.

“Any candidate that supports Benjamin Netanyahu and genocide more than their constituents, any candidate that’s tied up with corrupt crypto money, any candidate tied up with the real estate lobby as opposed to renters, we’re going to go after those candidates very aggressively,” he said.

The big question for Bowman is whether he will be able to raise the sums necessary to realize his dream of funding grassroots community organizing, voter education initiatives, mail-in ballot assistance and digital organizing at a level that can make a difference in close races.

Bowman said Built to Win is still in the process of building up its staff, though he revealed that one of the people involved in the new organization is Lexis Zeidan, a co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement that tried to pressure Vice President Kamala Harris to support an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza during last year’s presidential election.

Ryan Adams, who served as Bowman’s director of digital organizing during his 2020 campaign and is now a senior vice president at Actum, told City & State that Bowman could face significant challenges getting a new super PAC off the ground.

“Jamaal Bowman is an incredibly charismatic person. If you want to fill rooms and get people riled up and out of their seats, he can do it and do it well,” Adams said. “But building a serious and effective PAC is about filling bank accounts and getting people out the door and to the voting booths. It is a big lift and it will take a lot of money from a sustained group of supporters.”

He added: “Grassroots alone won’t cut it. Volunteers alone won’t provide enough consistency. For this to work, there will need to be a real plan, structure and metrics. That’s what I would look for.”

Bowman pointed to his previous experience founding a school in the Bronx and launching a successful congressional campaign. “I’ve done this before. When I thought the education system wasn’t doing enough to meet the needs of our kids, I had the privilege of opening up a school. When I felt the political system wasn’t serving my district enough, we built a campaign to run for Congress and won twice.”

In addition to launching Built to Win, Bowman recently began co-hosting a show with former Rep. Cori Bush on Zeteo, a progressive media network founded by former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan. Bowman told City & State that he’s also looking to engage in political consulting. It’s all part of his mission to build a new political infrastructure to empower progressive candidates and restore alienated voters’ faith in democracy.

“We haven’t done the political organizing year-round needed to build the power that the people need to make sure we never have a Donald Trump in office,” he said. “The political system has failed the people, and we’re trying to help the people take it back.”