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Representative Summer Lee, a first-term progressive Democrat, gained her main contest in western Pennsylvania on Tuesday, in line with The Associated Press, keeping off a average challenger in a race that centered on her stance on the warfare in Gaza.
The main, in Pennsylvania’s twelfth District, introduced one in all this yr’s first down-ballot exams of whether or not left-wing incumbents can be harm by their opposition to Israel’s army marketing campaign. After Ms. Lee for months confronted scrutiny for voting towards help for Israel, her victory was partly seen as a mirrored image of how public, and party, sentiment on the difficulty has appeared to shift in her favor.
The congresswoman was successful 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 average Democrat and tried to color Ms. Lee as dismissive of voters who oppose her strategy to the battle in Gaza. The seat is taken into account safely Democratic within the basic election.
A former state consultant, Ms. Lee, 36, narrowly gained a main battle within the district two years in the past towards a centrist opponent favored by the party’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, House 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 Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, stumped for her in Pittsburgh on Sunday.
With greater than 95 p.c 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 difficulty.”
“Our motion is expansive sufficient and sufficiently big for each one in all us, that each one in all us can lay down our arms and stop hearth in order that we will have peace from Pittsburgh to Palestine,” she mentioned.
In the autumn, after Ms. Lee grew to become one of many first Democrats to name for a direct cease-fire in Gaza, pro-Israel teams expressed curiosity in backing a challenger. But 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 towards Ms. Lee in 2022, centered its consideration elsewhere. Polls have proven that discontent with Israel’s army actions has been rising amongst Americans in latest months.
Still, 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 solid 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 vital 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 a brilliant PAC supporting average Democrats. The group ran advertisements on behalf of Ms. Patel, who disavowed Mr. Yass and his help.
Ms. Patel mentioned in an announcement on social media that “we didn’t get the outcome we needed tonight, however this race was removed from a loss.” “While our marketing campaign might finish tonight, our trigger continues on,” she added.
During the first, Ms. Lee usually promoted her file in Congress, together with having introduced federal {dollars} to the district, and framed her candidacy round supporting a extra numerous Democratic Party and combating Trump-aligned Republicans. She vastly out-raised Ms. Patel. In the final fund-raising quarter, Ms. Lee collected greater than 3 times as a lot cash as Ms. Patel did.
Speaking to an brisk crowd in downtown Pittsburgh on Tuesday evening, Ms. Lee additionally pledged to help her fellow Squad members going through 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 route that we wish our nation to go in — our coalition — is the coalition of now and the coalition of the long run,” she mentioned.
