By Olivia Hewang
During the 2018 midterms, women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ representatives made history. “The Squad”: made up of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Preslley, and Rashida Tlaib, all young women of color, represented the growing progressive movement within the Democratic Party.
This year, in the midst of Black Lives Matters protests and a global pandemic, young, BIPOC progressives are again taking on establishment Democrats for House seats.
Two black progressives made headlines earlier this month for defeating powerful incumbents to win their primaries: Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush.
Despite his underdog status, Jamaal Bowman, a middle school principal, defeated Eliot Engel, who had held the seat for 31 years. Engel had support from establishment figures like Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton. Engel, New York’s longest serving Congressman and House Foreign Affairs Chairman, was criticized for being disconnected from his community, which was especially hard hit by the coronavirus. Amidst the protests, Bowman was vocal about his own experiences with police brutality.
Cori Bush—whose 2018 campaign was featured alongside AOC’s in the documentary Knock Down the House—defeated William Lacy Clay Jr., whose family had represented Saint Louis for 50 years. While Clay remained distant from the Black Lives Matter movement this year, Cori Bush’s background in activism rang true for many voters in the wake of the death of George Floyd and nationwide protests against police violence (Bush led protests demanding justice for Michael Brown in Ferguson in 2014).
Although two of “The Squad”, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib faced significant challengers, they won their primaries by wide margins. In Michigan, Tlaib defeated repeat challenger Brenda Jones with 66% of the vote, a sweeping victory compared to her narrow win of 2 points in 2018. In Minnesota, Omar won with 58% of the vote, despite her opponent’s well-funded campaign.
Despite Joe Biden’s victory over Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination, these victories signal a leftward shift for the Democratic party.
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