By the early hours of Wednesday morning it became clear that Rashida Tlaib had soundly defeated her challenger in the Democratic primary for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, sending a clear message to those who believed the race would be closer than it was—Tlaib, and the Squad, aren’t going anywhere.
Tlaib was running against Brenda Jones, the president of the Detroit city council, who narrowly lost to Tlaib in an extremely crowded field in 2018. As the Detroit Free-Press noted, Jones was banking on voters being “embarrassed” by Tlaib. From the Free-Press:
Jones ran a campaign focused on criticizing Tlaib as being more interested in her popularity than her district — a difficult claim to make because Tlaib is known for showing up at local events and even marching with protesters, including during recent protests against police brutality. Jones also argued that many of her constituents have been embarrassed by Tlaib’s behavior, including referring to President Donald Trump as a “mother-f——r” in calling for his impeachment on her first night in office. She later booed comments former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton made about Sen. Bernie Sanders, whom Tlaib endorsed for president this year. Tlaib later apologized.
But as it turns out, voters in Detroit and its suburbs love a progressive champion, and someone who puts in the time in her district—something Tlaib is well known for—and unabashedly makes her voice heard. Tlaib won handily, beating Jones by 32 points according to the Free Press.
And not only is the Squad here to stay, but its membership is growing. As Tlaib noted on Twitter on Wednesday morning, the Squad is “only getting bigger.” In addition to Jamaal Bowman’s defeat of incumbent Eliot Engel earlier this year, on Tuesday night, Black Lives Matter activist, pastor, and nurse Cori Bush defeated long-time Representative William Lacy Clay in the Democratic primary for Missouri’s first Congressional District, all but ensuring that Bush will be joining Congress come January.