AOC wins re-election. How are the other House “squad” members doing?

by Junna Base November 6, 2024

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leader of the progressive group of House Democrats known as “The Squad,” won re-election Tuesday to represent the Bronx, New York.

She joins four others also elected to the 119th Congress, which convenes in January: Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts ran unopposed in her Boston-area district; and Reps. Greg Casar of Texas, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, Delia Ramirez of Illinois, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan defeated their Republican opponents.

“The heart of Texas — from San Antonio to Austin — has a history of standing up for workers and civil rights,” Casar wrote in an X post Tuesday night after AP called his race against Republican Steven Wright, a retired deputy sheriff had. “No matter what comes next tonight, I will fight for working families and against the billionaires and the cowardly politicians who serve them.”

Earlier this year, more moderate Democratic challengers defeated Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri as the party split over the Israel-Hamas war. Both squad members had criticized U.S. support for Israel and were the target of special editions of the super PAC American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC.

Their primary losses resulted in the declining influence of the progressive caucus of black and brown lawmakers, which has attracted significant attention in the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency since its founding in 2019.

Ocasio-Cortez and Representatives Tlaib, Omar and Pressley are considered the original members of the group. Since then, the group has grown to include Bowman, Bush, Casar, Lee and Ramirez.

One of the group’s de facto leaders, Ocasio-Cortez, 35, is a force for Democrats nationwide. She defended President Joe Biden during his re-election campaign but shifted her support to Kamala Harris when Democrats switched who was on their list earlier this summer.

Reach Rachel Barber at [email protected] and follow her on X @rachelbarber_

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