New Yorkers are heading to the polls today, and one of the most-watched contests is between Jamaal Bowman and sixteen-term incumbent Rep. Eliot Engel. The race has become the highest-profile proxy war between the progressive left and establishment Democrats — both because Bowman is backed by most of the new institutions and figures of this rising left, and because Engel represents the worst of the Democratic Party.

Engel has been endorsed by a who’s who of establishment Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Andrew Cuomo, and Hillary Clinton, who gave Engel her first endorsement of the primary election cycle. Bowman, conversely, was recruited by Justice Democrats to run and is backed by Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Working Families Party, the Sunrise Movement, and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Bowman is a dues-paying member of the DSA and says he was inspired to run by Sanders.

A major reason the race has attracted so much attention is its implications for the future of the Democratic Party on foreign policy. As chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Engel has more influence on Democratic foreign policy than almost anyone else. He’s also one of the party’s most war-friendly elected officials, particularly with respect to the Middle East.