Rep. Sean Casten decisively defeated Rep. Marie Newman in the Democratic primary for Illinois’s 6th district on Tuesday night by almost 25,000 votes. The two incumbents ended up squaring off as a result of recent redistricting that saw the state lose a congressional seat.
The progressive Newman, who previously represented Illinois’ 3rd district, consistently voted with “The Squad” and was exceptionally critical of Israel by the standards of the United States Congress. She was one of the only House members to oppose additional Iron Dome last fall, backed Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s historic Nakba legislation, and called on the Biden administration to stop the forced displacement of Palestinians. Such positions made her a target of lobbying groups like Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), which spent $450,000 on the race.
However, this time around Newman also found herself up against the liberal Zionist group J Street, who had backed her prior to the state’s redistricting. Earlier this month a spokesperson for the group told Jewish Insider that they “reviewed the race based on a number of factors and ultimately have made the decision..to endorse Rep. Casten alone in this new head-to-head matchup.”
One of those factors was presumably an Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) probe into alleged bribery by the Newman campaign. Over a year ago Mondoweiss reported on the case of Iymen Chehade, a Palestinian professor who says that Newman signed a contract guaranteeing him employment and went back on the agreement after she won. Newman has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
While it would be difficult to classify Casten as pro-Palestine, he certainly differs from the politicians that groups like DMFI usually back. Earlier this month he told Arab News that the United States had a “blind spot” with regard to Israel and recalled disturbing details from his most recent trip to the region.
“We had gone in the last time I was there, which was last February. We had gone in and met with several Palestinians. [The Israeli settlers] have got a farm up on the hill above their farm, and it is essentially an outpost with armed settlers who are regularly coming down and shooting [Palestinian] livestock,” explained Casten. “And we’re sitting there saying we are members of Congress. Why don’t we just walk up? And they were saying no, no… ‘You are going to get shot if you do that, do not walk up there,’ which is weird because normally as a member of Congress, we can go anywhere.”
Newman made national headlines in 2020 when she defeated eight-term Rep. Dan Lipinski, one of the only anti-abortion Democrats in the House. “Unfortunately, we did not get the result we were looking for this evening,” said Newman in a statement last night. “I respect my colleague Congressman Casten for his proven commitment to the people of this district and I give him my full endorsement for re-election in November. Win or lose, we have achieved something truly historic, and done so much good for this community.”
