A congressional race in Pittsburgh could test Democrats who have criticized Israel’s handling of the war

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania. An election this month in Pittsburgh and some of its suburbs is emerging as an early test of whether Israel’s war with Hamas poses political threats to progressive Democrats in Congress, who have criticized the way the conflict has been handled.

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, a first-term lawmaker who has aligned herself with the “squad,” is facing a primary challenge from Bhavini Patel and the war has become a flashpoint in the race.

Patel frames Lee’s criticism of Israel as part of a broader pattern of left-wing politics that is extreme for the district and potentially damaging to Democratic President Joe Biden, in a state crucial to his re-election bid against Republican Donald Trump. Lee counters that he helped bring calls for a ceasefire in Gaza into the mainstream Democratic Party.

The war shook democratic politics in the United States. It is dividing traditionally progressive groups, including Pittsburgh’s sizable Jewish community, in ways that don’t always fall neatly along ethnic or cultural lines. But it’s an especially serious issue in Lee County, home to the synagogue where a gunman killed 11 worshipers in 2018 in the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history.

The April 23 primary could clarify whether the war alone is enough to turn a critical mass of Democrats against Lee.

“It’s clearly big enough for a certain group in this district,” said Sam Hens-Greco, party chairman for Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh. “Whether it’s big enough for the entire population, we’ll find out.”

If Lee is defeated, she would be the first Democratic congressional candidate to lose a primary this year. Other progressive Democrats, including Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri, Jamaal Bowman of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, face primary challengers this summer.

Lee has raised far more money than Patel and has the support of Pennsylvania’s Democratic establishment, including Sen. Bob Casey, and a constellation of progressive groups that include Jewish and Muslim organizations.

The first Black woman elected to Congress from Pennsylvania, Lee, 36, is a Howard University law graduate and community activist who began her political career in 2018 with a successful left-wing challenge to an entrenched state lawmaker in the area. Pittsburgh.

On this year’s campaign, Lee promoted herself as a hard-working representative who advocates for voters and speaks in Congress on behalf of marginalized communities on issues ranging from combating inequality to climate change and intolerance, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. .

On the Israel-Hamas war, Lee condemned the Hamas attack, but also accused Israel of committing “war crimes” in Gaza, demanded an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, and called for a ceasefire just days after it began. of war. as the best way to end the cycle of violence and work for peace.

That set her apart from Biden’s position and that of most House Democrats, though now dozens of others have joined her in calling for a ceasefire. At Biden’s State of the Union address, Lee wore a kaffiyeh, a plaid scarf that has come to symbolize solidarity with Palestinians.

Patel, 30, a small-town city councilwoman who served in the administration of former Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, declared her candidacy just days before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Patel, who is Hindu and of Indian origin, cultivated the Jewish community, opening a campaign office in the Jewish enclave in Squirrel Hill, where she attended after Oct. 20. 7 vigils and bused with community members to a pro-Israel rally in Washington in November.

More recently, Patel criticized Lee for being aligned with supporters of the “disengaged” campaign who are encouraging Democrats to protest Biden’s handling of the war by voting “disengaged” in the primaries.

This, Patel suggested, is dangerous.

“I would say that all Democrats in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District should take note that my opponent is equivocating in her support for President Biden and has not denounced the ‘noncommittal’ movement,” Patel said in an interview. “I think that’s the issue that Democrats are very concerned about in this district.”

Lee defended the “disengaged” movement, saying it is wrong to discourage people from voting and potentially lose a crucial part of the electorate that Democrats want to persuade to support Biden in the November presidential contest. Biden also recognizes this, Lee said.

Lee said he has met with people from all sides of the war, including families of hostages and families of Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza, and that his calls for a ceasefire reflect the majority in the district.

Lee also accused Patel of aligning himself more with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than with Biden.

“Joe Biden is now aligning himself more with us, which means, no, we didn’t make a mistake in coming out early and coming out strong, because as we’re seeing now, that’s always been where we needed to be,” Lee said in an interview. “This has always been the only path to peace.”

For now, the sharpest questions about the war have largely been limited to the debate between Lee and Patel.

The issue barely registered on the airwaves, and the pro-Israel groups that spent heavily to try to defeat Lee in the 2022 primaries — Democratic Majority for Israel and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC — did not enter the fray. subject. race.

In Pennsylvania, a potential boost for Lee could come from college students who, unlike the 2022 primary, will be on campus this time. At the University of Pittsburgh, the war had a “dominant presence” on campus, with the majority of students in favor of a ceasefire, said Will Allison, president of Pitt’s College Democrats.

The group unanimously supported Lee, although the war caused some division among members, and the College Democrats are campaigning for Lee.

In a possible sign of political change surrounding the war, the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club, a nonpartisan organization based in Squirrel Hill, voted in favor of Patel after supporting Lee in 2022.

Sue Berman Kress, a Patel supporter who is Jewish, said she knows some Jewish Democrats who will not vote for Lee again. They feel she has abandoned the Jewish community and that her politics could open the door to a Trump victory and a rise in anti-Semitism.

“These things feel very divisive in a very scary way,” Kress said.

___

Follow Marc Levy at twitter.com/timelywriter.