A6 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAy, MARCH 18 , 2020
election 2020
BY MIKE DEBONISRep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.),
one of the last antiabortion Dem-
ocrats in Congress, lost his bid for
renomination to a ninth term
Tuesday to a more liberal chal-
lenger, business executive and
activist Marie Newman.
The race had been closely
watched as a test of whether a
socially conservative Democrat
could maintain support among
the party’s base in a solid blue
seat — and whether the dwin-
dling number of Democratic law-
makers opposing abortion would
be further culled by primary vot-
ers.
While Lipinski won support
from trade unions and some busi-
ness groups, key national advoca-
cy groups and liberal activist net-
works coalesced behind Newman
as a better match for a district
that preferred Hillary Clinton in
the 2016 presidential race by
15 percentage points over Donald
Trump.
With 95 percent of precincts
reporting, Newman held a rough-
ly 3,800-vote lead — about four
percentage points. The Associat-
ed Press declared Newman the
winner shortly after midnight.
“ I am bursting with pride and
gratitude for the amazing coali-
tion that helped bring about
much needed change in our dis-
trict,” Newman tweeted. “We are
going to work together to lower
health care costs, to fight climate
change, and to build an economy
that works for everyone.”
Lipinski, who is the first mem-
ber of Congress to lose a renomi-
nation bid in the 2020 election
cycle, declined to concede in a
posting to his campaign Face-
book account: “It is very close. We
may have to wait overnight or
into the morning for the final vote
count.”
The election was upended in
its closing phases by the coronavi-
rus pandemic, with both candi-
dates canceling their election
night parties and encouraging
voters to cast early ballots if
possible rather than risk an in-
person visit to polling places
Tuesday.
The race was a rematch of the
2018 Democratic primary in the
3rd Congressional District, which
is anchored in the working-class
neighborhoods of Chicago’s
South Side but stretches west-ward along the Des Plaines River
into more affluent suburbs.
Lipinski won a two-point victo-
ry in the last primary by marshal-
ing voters in Chicago precincts to
overcome Newman’s strength in
the suburbs before securing an
easy victory in the general elec-
tion. A year later, Newman an-
nounced she would try again.
Lipinski’s unapologetic anti-
abortion views — and Newman’s
outspoken support for abortion
rights — had been the dominant
topic in a district that is heavily
Democratic but also has a socially
conservative strain rooted in the
largely Catholic ethnic communi-
ties of Chicago.
Besides Lipinski, only Reps.
Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.), Ben Mc-
Adams (D-Utah) and Collin C.
Peterson (D-Minn.) hold a rating
over 25 percent on the National
Right to Life Committee’s legisla-
tive scorecard.
E arlier this month, in another
primary challenge to a conserva-
tive Democratic incumbent, Cuel-
lar fended off attorney Jessica
Cisneros, who also ran with the
support of Emily’s L ist and liberal
luminaries of the Democratic Par-
ty. That race was seen as an earlytest of whether moderate and
conservative incumbents could
withstand focused opposition
from the left — including groups
such as the Justice Democrats
and prominent figures such as
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
(D-N.Y.), who successfully mount-
ed her own insurgent campaign
in 2018.
Newman had the backing of
Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Bernie Sand-
ers (I-Vt.) and leaders of the Con-
gressional Progressive Caucus.
But many Democrats placed the
Lipinski race in a different cate-
gory, given the amount of institu-
tional support Newman had been
able to amass — not only from
Emily’s List and other major ad-
vocacy organizations, but also
from Lipinski’s own colleagues in
the Illinois House delegation, as
well as a constellation of local
officials including Chicago Mayor
Lori Lightfoot (D).
And while Cuellar benefited
from a last-minute fundraising
visit from House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Ma-
jority Leader Steny H. Hoyer
(D-Md.), top Democrats l argely
kept their distance from Lipinski.
[email protected]In Illinois rematch, insurgent defeats Rep. Lipinski
BY SEAN SULLIVANAs Bernie Sanders’s decisive
primary defeats Tuesday put him
almost hopelessly behind in the
race for the Democratic nomina-
tion, he began facing growing
calls to withdraw f rom Democrats
who want the party to unite and
focus its energy on defeating Pres-
ident Trump.
Even before Tuesday’s big loss-
es in Florida, Illinois and Arizona,
a chorus of Democrats was pub-
licly urging Sanders to drop out.
With upcoming primaries likely
to be postponed due to the coro-
navirus pandemic, Democrats in-
creasingly worry that former vice
president Joe Biden, who leads
the race by a comfortable margin,
might not be able to fully turn his
focus to Trump before late sum-
mer if Sanders stays in.
“A fter tonight, with no path to
secure the nomination,
@BernieSanders should drop
out,” Bakari Sellers, a former
South Carolina state lawmaker
who initially endorsed Sen. Ka-
mala D. Harris (D-Calif.), tweeted
Tuesday night. “We should pro-
ceed to the mission at hand, beat-
ing Trump.”
Former senator Claire Mc -
Caskill (D-Mo.) made a similar
point. “I think the conversation is
going to quickly turn to how and
when does Bernie Sanders unite
the Democratic Party,” McCaskill
said on MSNBC. “I do think the
pressure is going to mount, espe-
cially at this time of crisis in this
country, for the Democrats to
unite behind clearly the voters’
preference.”
Ye t some Sanders supporters
argue vociferously that he should
stay in precisely because of the
public health crisis, which they
say underlines his messages on
universal health care and income
inequality, creating intense cross-
pressures and an especially diffi-
cult dilemma for a candidate who
has built a loyal liberal move-
ment.
Sanders and his wife, Jane, are
expected to reach a decision to-
gether about the future of the
campaign, people in frequent
contact with them said, taking
input from advisers but making
the call on their own. Many Dem-
ocrats are waiting anxiously to see
what Sanders says on Wednesday
about the future of the race, if
anything.
Sanders spent Tuesday in
Washington, where the Senate
was hashing out legislation to
combat the vast impact of the
virus. Jane Sanders traveled to
Washington with him, according
to a campaign o fficial with knowl-
edge of the situation.
In a n address from Washington
live-streamed online Tuesday
night, Sanders made no mention
of the primaries or the future of
his campaign, instead focusing
exclusively on the coronavirus cri-
sis. He outlined proposals to ad-
dress the pandemic, including
empowering Medicare to cover all
medical bills during the crisis.
“I look forward to continuing
to communicate with you to tell
you where we are coming from,
what our ideas are, and look for-
ward to hearing from you,” said
Sanders, signaling an intent to
stay involved in the political con-
versation.
Biden extended an invitation to
Sanders voters Tuesday, praising
them and saying “they have shift-
ed the fundamental conversation
in this country.” He added, “Let
me say especially to the younger
voters who have been inspired by
Senator Sanders: I hear you.”
But it was unclear those en-
treaties would work. RoseAnn De-
Moro, a close friend of Sanders
and the former head of an influen-
tial nurses union, said earlier
Tuesday that the current social
and political volatility is alone
justification for Sanders to stick it
out. “A nything can happen within
the next several months, and he
would be forfeiting his delegates
if he got out,” DeMoro said.
After opting for a middle
ground last week — neither exit-
ing the race nor signaling it was
full speed ahead — the senator
from Vermont found his back
against the wall once again Tues-
day.
T he rapidly escalating corona-
virus crisis has forced Biden and
Sanders to cancel rallies and oth-
er activities indefinitely. Before
the widespread r ecognition of the
pandemic’s seriousness, several
Sanders allies expected him to
closely consider dropping out if
Tuesday’s results were disap-
pointing, but the current land-scape is throwing the usual calcu-
lations into question.
Larry Cohen, who heads a pro-
Sanders nonprofit organization,
said earlier this week that he
thinks Sanders ought to remain in
the race and accrue delegates to
the Democratic National Conven-
tion, so he can maintain his lever-
age with the Biden forces when it
comes to forming committees and
shaping the party’s approach to
health care and climate change.
“That’s the way the party gets
built,” said Cohen.
Inside the Sanders campaign, a
similar perspective could be
found. Nina Turner, a national
co-chair and one of Sanders’s
most trusted advisers, said Mon-
day that “there are millions of
people who are depending on
him” to promote his calls for a
universal health-care system and
other sweeping liberal programs.
At the same time, mounting
concerns about the virus and the
safety of voting have come into
consideration, raising new ques-
tions about the merits of pushing
ahead in a race that appears in-
creasingly unlikely to result in
victory. Pressure from Democrats
to unify against a president they
revile has been intensified by the
sense of national crisis, which
could make running a doomed
race seem less appropriate.
The Sanders campaign has sent
mixed signals in recent days on
whether it considers it safe for
voters to participate in the prima-
ries. Sanders spokesman Mike
Casca issued a statement as vot-
ing got underway Tuesday, saying
that the campaign would not use
traditional methods to turn out
voters and adding that casting a
ballot is “a personal decision and
we respect whichever choice they
make.”
Some Sanders allies speculate
privately that the coronavirus cri-
sis might make it more likely that
Sanders stays in the race. As a
longtime advocate of creating a
Medicare-for-all system in which
the government is the sole provid-
er of health insurance, Sanders
has said the pandemic shows pre-
cisely why universal health c are
needs to be enacted swiftly.
And he has seized on the mo-
ment to amplify his critique of the
country’s stark economic divides,
warning that the most vulnerable
stand to suffer the harshest conse-
quences of the pandemic and ur-
gently need the help he has long
promoted.
One Sanders campaign o fficial,
who spoke on the condition of
anonymity to talk candidly, said
that the changing nature of the
competition — n o more in-person
events in the near future, and
perhaps no more primaries —
could be an important factor.
Sanders might be freed up to
advance his cause outside the
traditional pressures of the horse
race, should he opt for staying in,
the official said.
Ye t obvious opportunities for
Sanders to turn the tide against
Biden have all but run out. Inside
the Sanders orbit, there is private
concern that Sunday’s debate did
not do enough to cause a major
shift in the race, as some had
hoped. Still, the campaign tried to
project positivity, sending talking
points to supporters claiming
Sanders had shown he was “the
best candidate to take on Donald
Trump in November.”
Sanders himself has admitted
in recent days that he has failed to
persuade Democrats he is more
electable than Biden, in a year
when Democrats place enormous
emphasis on finding the candi-
date most likely to defeat Trump.
The silver lining, Sanders has ar-
gued, is that he has prevailed in
the battle of ideas and has won the
allegiance of younger voters.
“It really does stun me to what
degree the Democratic establish-
ment continues to ignore the
needs and the ideas of younger
people,” Sanders said during a
“digital rally” Monday night, one
of several creative events his cam-
paign has staged to reach sup-
porters remotely.
As he spoke Tuesday night,
Sanders was still in campaign
mode, pitching his ideas much as
he has over the past year at rallies
and town halls. “We’ve covered a
lot of territory tonight,” he said.
But he appeared determined
not to draw attention to the day’s
nominating contests. The only
visible references to the primaries
were social media hashtags that
flashed in the upper right-hand
corner on the streaming video,
such as #BernieForAZ.
[email protected]Sanders faces
growing pressure
to exit the race
debate was hardly what the
Biden camp had hoped for or
expected. Sanders was on the
attack. Biden, who does not like
being challenged, fought back, at
times testily.
That leaves Biden and his
team with a delicate mission. As
one campaign official, who spoke
on the condition of anonymity to
discuss the matter candidly, put
it, “We’re never going to let
somebody distort Joe Biden’s
record. If [Sanders does so],
we’re going to push back on that.
But the imperative of our
campaign is to show Sanders’s
supporters that they have a home
here. They’re welcome as part of
the Biden movement.”
The backdrop of Biden’s
speech on Tuesday night was a
fresh illustration of how rapidly
the pandemic is forcing
campaigns to change behavior.
Last week, celebrating his
victories, he spoke from the
National Constitution Center in
Philadelphia, with staff and some
reporters present. On Tuesday
night, he spoke from his home in
Wilmington, Del., against a stark,
darkened backdrop and two
American flags.
Biden’s speech from home,
along with the poll workers
wearing protective gloves and
governors and mayors looking to
change not just the dates of
primaries but also the way
people will be allowed to cast
their ballots, represents the new
state of politics that will exist for
the foreseeable future.
With widespread and
extraordinary measures being
implemented to lessen the
deadly impact of the virus,
disruptions expand by the day
and, as Tuesday showed, into all
facets of life. In his remarks,
Biden made a reference to twin
challenges now confronting the
nation: protecting the health and
safety of the people and
protecting the democratic
process at the same time — a test
that no one was prepared for
when the voting began less than
two months ago.
[email protected]among grass-roots progressives.
Sanders long has talked about
his candidacy as symbolic of a
movement to change the country,
and he has energized various
groups on the left. He has been
the leader of that movement
since his 2016 campaign.
Biden will not make demands
of Sanders, but neither will he
wait for a decision one way or the
other from his last remaining
serious rival. His campaign
already has moved to general-election footing, albeit it under
circumstances that bring new
challenges to the candidate and
his staff. But he is mindful of the
need to bring along those
Sanders supporters who will be
bitterly disappointed that their
candidate will not be the
Democratic nominee.
Biden spoke to that need when
he addressed the country in a
live-stream presentation, saying
that while he and Sanders might
differ on tactics, they shared
many of the same goals. “Senator
Sanders and his supporters have
brought remarkable passion and
tenacity to these issues, and
together, they have shifted the
fundamental conversation in the
country,” he said. “A nd let me say,
especially to the young voters
who have been inspired by
Senator Sanders: I hear you. I
know what is at stake. And I
know what we have to do.”
Biden entered Sunday’s debate
against Sanders hoping, if not
certain, that the evening would
be the beginning of a
rapprochement between the two
longtime Senate colleagues. Once
they moved past a mostly civil
discussion about responding to
the coronavirus, the tenor of theprimaries by the margins he
would need to catch up to Biden,
let alone overtake him to claim
the nomination.
The results on Tuesday
underscored for the third
straight week that Democrats
have consolidated rapidly
around Biden’s candidacy and
that Sanders has struggled to do
as well this year as he did against
Hillary Clinton in 2016. Biden’s
victory margins in Florida and
Illinois topped those of Clinton’sin 2016, in large part because
Sanders was getting a smaller
share this time than last. The
results provided Biden with
another big haul of delegates and
an ever-widening advantage over
Sanders.
This presents Sanders with a
decision point he no doubt
would rather defer as long as
possible. Will he carry on with
his candidacy against
overwhelming odds or yield to
the numbers that both
campaigns can calculate and
suspend the campaign in the
name of party unity and the goal
of defeating Trump?
Pressure will mount quickly
for him to end his candidacy and
give Biden and the Democratic
Party the freedom to shift their
entire focus to the general
election. But as Sunday’s debate
illustrated, Sanders isn’t ready to
give up fighting for the policies
he has championed in this
campaign and his bid in 2016,
and without some assurances,
the decision will become all the
more difficult.
The decision is complicated as
Sanders ponders the impact of
continuing or not continuing t he
movement he has spawnedThe Democratic
presidential race
passed a point of
no return
Tuesday, with
former vice
president Joe
Biden firmly in
control of his
party’s
nomination over Sen. Bernie
Sanders (I-Vt.). But politics more
broadly entered into the
unknown as the spreading
coronavirus continued to
radically disrupt the political life
of the country.
This combination of certainty
and uncertainty was highlighted
on a day when three states —
Arizona, Florida and Illinois —
held primaries and another —
Ohio — that was scheduled to do
so abruptly shut down its polling
places for reasons of health
safety. Nothing better described
a new normal than the rapidly
changing face of American
politics in the age of a pandemic.
Voter turnout was up
compared with 2016 in Florida
and Arizona, thanks to lots of
early voting, but down in Illinois,
which had the lowest level of
early voting of the three states —
an indication of the impact of the
virus on Election Day turnout.
Postponements of coming
primaries continued to mount,
causing the nominating season
to be extended into later in June.
The final primaries now could
come only weeks before the
Democratic National Convention
is scheduled to convene in
Milwaukee — if it is held as
planned.
Squabbles among state and
local officials, some partisan and
some territorial, highlighted the
tensions facing all government
leaders as they attempt to
preserve the sacred process of
voting amid fears that the
traditional methods of casting
ballots now endanger voters and
poll workers alike.
Calls for easier access to early
voting or voting by mail also
mounted on primary day as
officials looked ahead not only to
scheduled primaries but also to
the November election that will
be conducted, based on what
federal officials have said,
without a vaccine in place to help
protect people from the virus.
Those discussions are only
beginning and will intensify,
sometimes with partisan
overtones.
From the start of the
nomination battle, March 17 —
the day by which roughly
60 percent of all pledged
delegates were to be allocated —
was circled on the calendars of
many strategists and campaign
staffers as the day the contest
could be settled and the party
would know who its challenger
would be to P resident Trump in
November.
That turned out to be
accurate. For all practical
purposes, the contest between
Biden and Sanders is over.
Numerically, the former vice
president is still well short of a
majority of delegates needed to
win a first-ballot victory. But the
reality is that it would take a
radical change in fortunes for
Sanders to start winning
Biden now holds the wheel, but
we’re entering a vast unknown
Dan Balz
THE TAKE
JAYME GERSHEN/BLOOMBERG NEWS
A voter wearing a protective mask exits a polling station after casting a ballot Tuesday in Miami.
Voting was held in Florida, Illinois and Arizona as the coronavirus continued upending public life.Squabbles among state and local officials
highlighted the tensions facing all government
leaders as they attempt to preserve the sacred
process of voting amid fears over the outbreak.