The “Squad” will likely be reunited in Congress next year after Rep. Rashida Tlaib won her Democratic House primary rematch in Michigan.
Tlaib, 43, vied for a second term representing Michigan’s 13th Congressional District against Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones, 60. Their election was defined by issues of race and Tlaib’s resources compared to Jones. Tlaib’s victory was a surprise given the record number of black Detroit voters who mailed in their ballots ahead of the Aug. 4 primary.
Tlaib and Jones first met in the 2018 special election to replace the late Rep. John Conyers. Conyers had resigned over sexual misconduct accusations at the height of the #MeToo movement. Jones won the four-way special election before Tlaib clinched victory by fewer than 1,000 votes five weeks later. The second contest was against a more crowded six-way field for the longer stint in Washington. All four of their former general election rivals backed Jones, a 15-year councilor.
Polling was sparse throughout the race, but a Target-Insyght poll late last month had Tlaib in front, 53% to 24%. The Palestinian American, who along with Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar was one of the first two Muslim women to win seats in Congress, was leading in the cash stakes. She raised $2.9 million in contrast to Jones’s $140,000 in July. Jones was disadvantaged after contracting COVID-19, as well.
Michigan’s 13th District is predominately African American. And Jones, who is black, earned a slew of endorsements from prominent community members after George Floyd’s death sparked weeks of demonstrations against racial injustice.
Tlaib’s success at leveraging her notoriety into district funding became a campaign issue, too.
Tlaib attracted national attention from her first week on Capitol Hill due to her penchant for making inflammatory remarks. She also became President Trump’s political foil as part of the quartet of far-left freshman female House Democrats, which includes New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Jones criticized her opponent for making headlines, whether for vowing to impeach “motherf—er” Trump or encouraging Iowa Democrats to “boo” 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, instead of focusing on her constituent work.
