On Tuesday night, Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) won the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania’s 12th district, defeating challenger Bhavini Patel. With 95% of the vote in, Lee is up by over 20 points.
Patel, an Edgewood Councilmember, was backed by Moderate PAC, which was formed to target progressive candidates and is primarily funded by the Republican billionaire Jeffrey Yass.
Lee did not accept any money from corporate PACs.
“Our movement is expansive enough and big enough for each and every one of us, that each and every one of us can lay down our arms and cease fire so that we can have peace from Pittsburgh to Palestine,” declared Lee in a victory speech.
In 2022 Lee became the first Black woman elected to Congress in Pennsylvania, despite the efforts of pro-Israel lobbying opposing her campaign. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) spent more than $4 million trying to stop Lee, backing former Republican staffer Steve Irwin in the Democratic primary and then GOP candidate Mike Doyle. It was the first time that the organization had intervened against a Democrat in a general election.
Lee became a target of AIPAC after criticizing Israel’s 2021 assault on Gaza. “When I hear American pols use the refrain ‘Israel has the right to defend itself’ in response to undeniable atrocities on a marginalized population, I can’t help but think of how the West has always justified indiscriminate and disproportionate force and power on weakened and marginalized people,” she tweeted. “The U.S. has never shown leadership in safeguarding human rights of folks its othered But as we fight against injustice here in the movement for black lives we must stand against injustice everywhere. Inhumanities against the Palestinian people cannot be tolerated or justified.”
Lee faced immediate backlash from pro-Israel groups over the tweet, but unlike many politicians, she refused to back down over the criticism.
Asked about the tweet during an event with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Pittsburgh, she defended her position.
“I was seeing, as a black woman, somebody who has also experienced oppression– we as black folks have experienced global oppression– and really looking at the parallels and being startled,” she explained. “That was I believe a year ago, also during Ramadan, where we saw a mosque being raided. Those are folks who are in their most vulnerable point and they’re holding on, praying and breaking fast, and that was an internationally-recognized event that happened that was an escalation unlike we had seen, and what I heard and what I continue to hear was instead of a cry out to say that was not OK… instead what I saw were American politicians rushing to use that phrase that Israel has a right to defend itself.”
“The question was what were they defending themselves against at that moment and I think that that was specifically what that tweet was speaking about,” Lee continued. “When we are saying that a powerful entity has a right to defend itself, when no one had done anything needing a defense, that was the parallel that was drawn between Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman who instigated it and then saying he had a right to defend himself. And that’s what I was seeing as a black woman and recognizing that parallel and the trauma that comes with it.”
Lee didn’t abandon the issue of Palestine once elected. As a Congress member, she has consistently criticized Israel over its human rights record and was one of the first lawmakers to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. She’s also opposed every legislative effort to send Israel more military aid, including the recent foreign aid bill which is slated to send the country another $17 billion in weapons.
Lee ended up winning the 2022 Democratic primary by less than a point, leading most to believe that AIPAC would return to the district to spend big again in a couple of years. However, the group and other lobbying organizations, like Democratic Majority for Israel [DMFI], almost entirely sat out Tuesday’s race.
It’s clear that the Israel Lobby viewed Lee’s race as unwinnable, and there’s good reason to believe they were right. In recent years, poll after poll has shown that support for Israel is declining among Democratic voters, and sympathy for the Palestinian cause is increasing. Although most Democratic lawmakers remain largely supportive of Israel, the numbers indicate that they are out of step with their base.
This is especially true when it comes to a ceasefire. A February Data for Progress found that a staggering 77% of Democratic voters believe President Joe Biden should demand a permanent ceasefire in the region. 69% of independents said they backed one.
Yass’s involvement in the election and the anticipated pro-Israel intervention that never materialized led to a massive fundraising haul for Lee through small donors. The Congress member raised over $1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, and over 90% of those donations were less than $250.
“A Republican-funded Super PAC threatened to spend $100 million against us – and our grassroots people-powered movement has responded loud and clear,” she said in a statement at the time. “I am so proud of the multigenerational, mulitracial movement we have built in Western Pennsylvania to protect and expand our democracy – it is our greatest defense against the dark money Super PACs and corporate lobbies who seek to undermine it. They have Donald Trump and Nikki Haley’s donors, we have the overwhelming power of the people.”
Despite their absence from Lee’s race, AIPAC is set to spend more than $100 million targeting Israel critics in this year’s election. They’re focusing on more vulnerable incumbents like Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY).
However, AIPAC’s foes hope that Lee’s victory will be a bellwether for the remaining races.
In a tweet shortly after her win, Lee wrote, “Opposing genocide is good politics and good policy. #CeasefireNOW.”
Good news.