“The Squad Retains Their Seats,” Omar, AOC Victorious
As the U.S. election drew to a close, members of the growing radical left-wing Democratic movement called the “squad” had successfully secured their respective congressional seats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Ilhan Omar.
On Wednesday, one of their key members, Ocasio-Cortez, defeated Republican challenger, John Cummings, a school teacher and member of the New York Police Department. The freshman lawmaker, who is considered one of the youngest politicians in the House, secured her seat in Congress.
According to Cummings, he ran against AOC in a largely blue state in hopes of promoting the Republican agenda. These include lower tax cuts and stronger support for the New York Police Department. While the Democrat had successfully secured her seat, the New York Times cited it as the second-highest expensive election campaign. AOC’s win is crucial for the Democrat Party’s goal to win back the majority seat in the House of representatives. In her speech, AOC thanked her supporters and vowed that she would continue to fight for the working class. However, the Democrat lamented that they still had to work to galvanize Latino voters.
In 2018, the self-proclaimed, Democratic socialist made headlines after she had unseated 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley. AOC’s win made big news, especially since Cowley was already considered one of the House Speaker candidates.
In addition, AOC’s close ally, Rep. Ilhan Omar, also won her re-election bid for her second term in Congress. The Minnesota Democrat defeated Republican challenger, Lacy Johnson, by up to 148,000 votes. Just like Ocasio-Cortez, Omar made headlines during her 2018 win. Just this year, Omar came under fire after issuing anti-Semitic remarks. To make matters worse, the FBI had also launched an investigation to investigate allegations that the lawmaker had married her brother in exchange for a U.S. visa.
Another member of AOC’s squad, Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, also secured her Congressional seat. In her message, Pressley declared that their win was a result of their organization and mobilization. “I believe in the power of us. And we’re just getting started,” Pressley said.
Finally, one of the four members of AOC’s squad, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, one of the two Muslims who won the Congressional seat, also congratulated her fellow squad member. “The Squad is big,” Tlaib wrote. Other radical Democrats who won the recent elections include Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin.
However, several media outlets believed that while the progressive movement gained momentum, they share a massive responsibility to further Democratic agendas. Reports claimed that if such agendas fail, the blame would mostly fall to the squad members.