AOC wins re-election. How are other House ‘Squad’ members doing?

On By Littum

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

She joins four others who have also been elected to serve in the 119th Congress, which meets 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 beat 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 the AP called its race against Republican Steven Wright, a retired deputy sheriff. “No matter what comes next tonight, I will fight for working families and against the billionaires + the cowardly politicians who serve them.”

More: As election results pour in, who will win control of the House and Senate? Live updates

Earlier this year, more moderate Democratic challengers defeated Reps. Jamaal Bowman in New York and Cori Bush in Missouri as the party splits over the Israel-Hamas war. Both team members had criticized US support for Israel and were the target of special interest spending by the super PAC American Israel Public Affairs Committee, more commonly known as AIPAC.

Their primary losses corresponded to waning influence for the progressive faction of black and brown lawmakers that has garnered significant attention since its initial founding in 2019 during the last two years of Donald Trump’s presidency.

Ocasio-Cortez and Reps. Tlaib, Omar and Pressley are considered the original members of the group. The team has since grown to include Bowman, Bush, Casar, Lee and Ramirez.

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

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