Jamaal Bowman Bio and Wiki
Jamaal Bowman is an American politician, former educator, and middle school principal from the Bronx, NY. In the Democratic primaries held on June 23, 2020, the black aspirant defeated 16-term incumbent Rep. Eliot Engel to clinch the Congress seat to represent New York’s 16th congressional district in Congress.
Jamaal Bowman Age
Bowman was born and raised in Manhattan, NY, United States. He is 44 years old in 2020. However, his exact date of birth is not known to the public. We’ll update this information once it is available.
Jamaal Bowman Height
He appears to be a man of above-average stature according to his photos. Bowman’s height could be at least 5 ft 9 in.
Jamaal Bowman Family
Bowman was born in Manhattan, New York City to a single mother. He was raised with the help of his grandmother with whom he lived during the week in the East River Houses in East Harlem and with his mother and sisters in Yorkville, Manhattan on weekends. Sadly when Bowman was eight, his grandmother died. According to him, he grew up in a housing project and moved with his family to Sayreville, New Jersey at age 16.
Jamaal Bowman Fiancee | Love Story
As a young man, Bowman dated Toyami Als, a city school teacher. They went on to become engaged and had a son. However, in April 2003 Bowman sued his fiancee to return a $5,800 engagement ring after their relationship broke down according to court documents.
Later, they decided to settle the matter out of court. They also mended fences and have since been co-parenting their son, currently 17 and in college. When Bowman decided to run for Congress, his former fiancee donated $500 to his campaign.
Talking about her ex-fiancee to The Post, Als said that:
“Jamaal is a great man and father and I love him dearly, which is why I’ve supported his campaign from the very beginning.”
The pair currently enjoy a cordial relationship. Als got to keep the ring.
Jamaal Bowman Wife | Children
After getting over his acrimonious break-up with his fiancee, Bowman married his lovely wife, Melissa Oppenheimer. Together, the two are proud parents of three children. The family lives in Yonkers.
Jamaal Bowman Education
Bowman played on the football team while he studied at Sayreville War Memorial High School. He then joined Potomac State Junior College albeit briefly before proceeding to the University of New Haven from where he graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sports management.
Jamaal Bowman For Congress
After teaching in a public school called the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action for a decade when Michael Bloomberg was the New York Mayor, Bowman was driven to fight for elective office to drive change from the front.
Among the factors that motivated him were the distinct disparities in the wealth distribution due to huge gaps between the haves and have-nots and the racial factor involved in this inequality.
Jamaal Bowman Poll | Victory
Subsequently, he joined the 2020 Democratic primary race for a ticket to face Republican opposition in the general election to be held later in the year. Progressively, Bowman’s polls kept gaining steam leading to his endorsement by Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders as Hillary Clinton supported his opponent.
He clinched the Democratic Party nomination after defeating 16-term incumbent Rep. Eliot Engel. Along with Mondaire Jones (a black and gay candidate from NY17), is deemed as having ridden the Insurgent Wave of Black Lives matter to win in the House Primary.
Jamaal Bowman Beat Eliot Engel | Primary
Despite the fact that Bowman was widely viewed as the underdog, he emerged the winner. Progressive movements that sprouted in New York and the U.S. after the May 25, 2020 killing of George Floyd, the subsequent protests, and Bowman’s own contribution in the Black Lives Matter matches, boosted his candidature. Floyd was a black man who was killed by a white police officer, Derek Chauvin during an arrest for suspicion of committing a non-violent crime.
Bowman beat 16-term incumbent Rep. Eliot Engel. The latter was first elected to Congress in 1988.
Jamaal Bowman Principal
After college, Bowman later became an educator in the Bronx. He founded Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, a public middle school. He is a former Principal of the school.
Jamaal Bowman Net Worth
Bowman has worked in different capacities since the early 2000s. However, it is education that his passionate about, and his blogs against standardized testing have come to gain national attention. Bowman has no doubt earned a good income from his career as an educator. His net worth is estimated to be around $1 million and above.