More on Greenburgh Redistricting: comparing the voting records (so far) of representatives Mondaire Jones and Jamaal Bowman

Greenburgh is currently split between two congressional districts, with 1/3 of the town lying in CD16 (Rep. Jamaal Bowman) and 2/3 in CD17 (Rep. Mondaire Jones).  The town faces a changed congressional district configuration next year that will apply for the next ten years after redistricting will be finalized in Albany in early 2022.  As I wrote last week, current congressional redistricting proposals pose three differing maps with respect to Greenburgh: 

1.  The Bowman Plan: the status quo continuing to divide Greenburgh with the south third of town  (the villages of Hastings and Ardsley along with the Edgemont school district) in CD16, and the remaining 2/3 in CD17.  The status quo is the preferred plan of many supporters of Rep. Jamaal Bowman who spoke at the recent lower Hudson Valley redistricting hearing. The Bowman Plan conflicts with census reality and is not a realistic outcome. 

2.  The Independent Redistricting Commission Letters Plan: The Democratic members of the IRC have proposed placing 90% of Greenburgh in CD16 with some neighborhoods in north Tarrytown and north Elmsford remaining in CD17.  This would make Greenburgh mostly a Bowman district. 

3.  The Unofficial Westchester Democratic Party "Berger" Plan:  Democratic Party leadership in Westchster Co. proposes placing all of Greenburgh in CD17.  Considering the influence of the party and Democrats' control over the redistricting process in Albany, this is the most likely outcome, placing  Greenburgh entirely within Mondaire Jones's district 

Maybe now is a good time to compare the voting records of Mondaire Jones and Jamaal Bowman in Congress.  

Not surprisingly, the two progressive Congress members have a very similar voting record. According  to 538's Biden Score, however, Mondaire Jones has voted 100% in line with Pres. Biden's positions, while Jamaal Bowman's score is 92.9%

According to Pro Publica, the two freshmen have differed on only 10 votes out of 365. In each of these ten bills, all of which passed the House, Jones supported and Bowman opposed the Democratic majority in Congress. 

These votes are:

1.  The Invest in America Act on 11/5 .   In his most notorious vote to date, Bowman joined the Squad Six (Bowman, AOC, Tlaib, Omar, Bush, Pressley)  to oppose the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill (BIF) which 215 House Dems and even 13 Republicans (including four from NY) supported.

2.  House Res.  760 "Expressing solidarity with Cuban citizens demonstrating peacefully for fundamantal freedoms, condemding the Cuban regime's acts of repression, and calling for the immediate release of arbitrarily detained Cuban citizens."  On Nov. 3, Bowman was one of 40 Dems who opposed 175 Dems who supported this Cuban resolution.  Bowman found company in his opposition with fellow New Yorkers Ocasio-Cortez, Nadler, Meng, Clark, and Velazquez. 

3.  RENACER: The Reinforcing Nicaragua's Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform Act of 2021  to establish measures to monitor, report on, and address corruption and human rights abuses in Nicaragua.   Bowman (along with Ocasio-Cortez, Espaillat, Velazquez) was among 29 House Dems voting against.  Jones and 184 House Dems voted in favor.

4.  The Darren Drake Act."This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security to develop and disseminate best practices for vehicle rental companies and dealers to report suspicious behavior to law enforcement at the point of sale of a rental vehicle."   on 10/19, House Dems voted 211 to 8 in favor of this bill, which Bowman and fellow New Yorker AOC opposed.  

5.  The Libya Stabilization Act: "To advance a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Libya and support the people of Libya."  On 9/28,  211 House Dems voted in favor, with only Bowman, AOC, Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib opposed. 

6.  Meeks Amendment to Bill authorizing fiscal year 2022 appropriations for military activities and programs of the Department of Defense. on 9/23, Bowman was the only Democrat to join 203 Republicans in voting against the Meeks amendment.

7.  Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2021 to respond to the 1/6 attack on the US Capitol complex and to expand Afghan visa program.  On 7/29,  Bowman, again as one of the Squad Six, voted against this bill which was suppported by 213 of his House Democratic colleague . 

8.  Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Act:  "This bill provides statutory authority for the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Program, an interagency program launched in 2005 to partner with countries in the Sahel and Maghreb regions of Africa to counter terrorism and violent extremism."  On July 29, 214 House Dems voted in favor; 4 (Bowman, AOC, Cori Bush and Katie Porter) voted against. 

9.  Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act:  "This bill establishes a new criminal offense for knowingly executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud an individual of veterans' benefits, or in connection with obtaining veteran's benefits for an individual."   On 6/22, 211 House Dems voted in faovr while Bowman joined 4 Squad members (AOC, Omar, Pressley and Bush)  to vote against (Tlaib defied the Squad to vote in favor). 

10.  HR 335: "To provide for an exception to a limitation against appointment of persons as Secretary of Defense within seven years of relief from active duty as a regular commissioned officer of the Armed Forces."   205 House Dems supported this 1/21 bill to allow Gen. Lloyd Austin to become Secretary of Defense, while Bowman was one of 15 Dems who opposed. 

With the exception of the BIF vote, all the differences with Jones arise from Bowman's departing from the Democratic Party majority on foreign policy or domestic security issues.  

For context, how do the 10 vote disagreements between Jones and Bowman compare to their voting records contrasted with other Democrats in Congress? 

Using Pro Publica's database, we can make these one-on-one voting records comparisons.

DISAGREEMENTS AMONG FRIENDS: vote differences between Democratic congress members:

I.  Jones & Bowman v. The Squad 

		AOC	Pressley	Cori Bush	I. Omar	Tlaib
Mondiare Jones		12	9	20	12	15
Jamaal Bowman		4	4	11	7	11

II.  Jones & Bowman v.  Dem Moderates

		Gottheimer NJ	Golden - ME	Crist FL	Murphy FL
Mondiare Jones		18	30	13	16
Jamaal Bowman		27	38	23	26

III.   Jones & Bowman v,. The New York Democratic Congressional Delegation:

		Espaillat	Velazquez	Torres	Clarke	Meng	Tonko
Mondaire Jones		1	3	3	4	4	4
Jamaal Bowman		9	11	12	10	12	14

		C. Maloney	Meeks	Jeffries	Nadler	SP Maloney	Higgins
Mondaire Jones		5	6	6	7	8	8
Jamaal Bowmaan		14	16	16	14	18	18

		Morelle	Rice	Suozzi	AOC	Delgado
Mondaire Jones		10	11	11	12	16
Jamaal Bowmaan		20	21	21	4	26

Again, these are a small number of votes out of 365 total in the 117th Congress, but it does stand out that Jones's voting record is closer to 12 other NY Democrats than to Bowman's vote history.   Bowman's vote record, conversely, is closer to 3 Squad members than to Jones's record.   Among the New York Delegation, however, Bowman is still closer to Jones than any other NY congress members except Ocasio-Cortez, of course, and also Rep. Adriano Espaillat (who has nearly the identical voting record as Jones, disagreeing with Jones only on the RENACER vote).   

As the New York and Westchester County Democratic Party leadership decides the future congressional representation of our town, Greenburgh voters should familiarize themselves with the small but arguably significant differences between the voting records of the two progressive congressmen who represent the town now and will do so in a yet-to-be-determined configuration for possibly the next decade.  If residents do have strong opinions about whether they want to live in the Congressional district of Mondaire Jones or Jamaal Bowman, they should speak up now to inform the Democratic Party leadership of Westchester and the Independent Redistricting Committee about their preference.