Consultant Summer season Lee, a first-term progressive Democrat, received her main contest in western Pennsylvania on Tuesday, in line with The Related Press, heading off a reasonable challenger in a race that centered on her stance on the battle in Gaza.
The first, in Pennsylvania’s twelfth District, introduced considered one of this yr’s first down-ballot assessments of whether or not left-wing incumbents could be damage by their opposition to Israel’s navy marketing campaign. After Ms. Lee for months confronted scrutiny for voting in opposition to help for Israel, her victory was partly seen as a mirrored image of how public, and occasion, sentiment on the problem has appeared to shift in her favor.
The congresswoman was profitable by an awesome margin with counting practically full late Tuesday, underlining the energy of her place as an incumbent this yr after she out-raised her opponent with widespread backing from Democratic officers.
Ms. Lee, who in 2022 was elected the primary Black girl to signify Pennsylvania in Congress and later joined the group of left-leaning lawmakers often called the Squad, defeated Bhavini Patel, a metropolis councilwoman in Edgewood, Pa. Ms. Patel ran as a extra reasonable Democrat and tried to color Ms. Lee as dismissive of voters who oppose her method to the battle in Gaza. The seat is taken into account safely Democratic within the common election.
A former state consultant, Ms. Lee, 36, narrowly received a main battle within the district two years in the past in opposition to a centrist opponent favored by the occasion’s institution. Her victory was heralded by left-leaning organizations and leaders as a win for the progressive motion.
This yr, Ms. Lee, now the incumbent, garnered help throughout the Democratic spectrum. Her endorsers included Pennsylvania’s senators, Home Democratic leaders, labor unions and the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, which opposed her candidacy in 2022. Progressive teams spent giant sums on her behalf, and Consultant Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, stumped for her in Pittsburgh on Sunday.
With greater than 95 % of the vote counted, she led Ms. Patel by greater than 20 factors. Ms. Lee performed up that success as a testomony that “our motion is rising” and denounced those that she mentioned “needed to make this a referendum on only one concern.”
“Our motion is expansive sufficient and sufficiently big for every considered one of us, that every considered one of us can lay down our arms and stop hearth in order that we are able to have peace from Pittsburgh to Palestine,” she mentioned.
Within the fall, after Ms. Lee turned one of many first Democrats to name for a direct cease-fire in Gaza, pro-Israel teams expressed curiosity in backing a challenger. However a critical opponent by no means materialized. AIPAC, the pro-Israel group that’s supporting challenges to some left-wing candidates and that spent closely in opposition to Ms. Lee in 2022, targeted its consideration elsewhere. Polls have proven that discontent with Israel’s navy actions has been rising amongst Individuals in current months.
Nonetheless, Ms. Lee drew criticism in her district from some Jewish voters, who mentioned within the days earlier than the election that they have been sad together with her positions on Israel. Ms. Patel, 30, additionally tried to forged her opponent as insufficiently supportive of President Biden. Ms. Lee has pledged to rally her coalition to help Mr. Biden this fall in Pennsylvania, a important swing state.
Ms. Lee and her allies seized on Ms. Patel’s help from Jeff Yass, a distinguished Republican donor in Pennsylvania who gave considerably to an excellent PAC supporting reasonable Democrats. The group ran advertisements on behalf of Ms. Patel, who disavowed Mr. Yass and his help.
Ms. Patel mentioned in a press release on social media that “we didn’t get the consequence we needed tonight, however this race was removed from a loss.” “Whereas our marketing campaign might finish tonight, our trigger continues on,” she added.
Through the main, Ms. Lee typically promoted her report in Congress, together with having introduced federal {dollars} to the district, and framed her candidacy round supporting a extra various Democratic Occasion and combating Trump-aligned Republicans. She vastly out-raised Ms. Patel. Within the final fund-raising quarter, Ms. Lee collected greater than thrice as a lot cash as Ms. Patel did.
Chatting with an brisk crowd in downtown Pittsburgh on Tuesday evening, Ms. Lee additionally pledged to help her fellow Squad members dealing with challenges nationwide.
“We’re going to ship a message to our Congress, and we’re going to ship a message to our nation, that the course that we would like our nation to go in — our coalition — is the coalition of now and the coalition of the long run,” she mentioned.