A16 Y THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONALTHURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020
Election
When Bernie Sanders lost to
Joseph R. Biden Jr., the left
mourned what could have been,
worried that it had faltered at a
once-in-a-generation crossroads
for the Democratic Party.
But in the time since Mr. Sand-
ers dropped out of the 2020 presi-
dential race in early April, pro-
gressives have had a number of
victories to celebrate, in Mis-
souri, New York, Michigan and
Illinois — congressional primary
triumphs that demonstrate a
new path for building political
power and grass-roots momen-
tum that threatens the position of
longtime Democratic leadership.
This week, the progressive
activist Cori Bush defeated Rep-
resentative William Lacy Clay Jr.
of Missouri, a 10-term incumbent
and member of a powerful politi-
cal dynasty that had represented
the St. Louis area for more than
50 years. Representative Ra-
shida Tlaib of Michigan also
cruised in her primary against
the more moderate Detroit City
Council president, proving the
staying power of the group of
progressive congresswomen
known as the Squad.
Earlier primary contests led to
other victories for the left: Ja-
maal Bowman, a former middle
school principal, ousted the
longtime incumbent Representa-
tive Eliot L. Engel in the Bronx
and Westchester; the progres-
sive lawyer Mondaire Jones won
a House primary for an open
seat in New York’s Rockland
County; and Marie Newman
defeated an anti-abortion Demo-
crat in Illinois. And so what
began for the party’s left wing as
a year of “what could’ve been” is
turning into a promise of “what
can be,” as the successes provide
a new road map of political possi-
bilities.
On its own, the outcome of the
Democratic presidential primary
would point to a party that has
rejected left-wing ideals, eschew-
ing “Medicare for all” and its
champions in favor of a more
moderate candidate, Mr. Biden.
But the full scope of this year’s
primary season points to a more
complicated picture — a party
with a fluid identity whose em-
brace of diverse candidates is
clear, but one that has not settled
on a dominant ideology.
Mr. Sanders, the Vermont
senator whose presidential cam-
paigns in 2016 and 2020 ignited
much of the current grass-roots
infrastructure, was scheduled to
hold a livestream event Wednes-
day evening with Ms. Tlaib, Ms.
Bush and Mr. Bowman, some-
thing of a virtual torch-passing
among of political revolutionar-
ies. Representative Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, who did not en-
dorse a candidate in the Missouri
race but is the best-known mem-
ber of the House progressives,
called Ms. Bush Wednesday to
congratulate her.
“People are ready to elect
people who they see actuallydoing the work,” Ms. Bush said in
an interview. She dismissed the
idea that making a transition
from outside activist to congress-
woman would be difficult.
“I’m an organizer at heart, so
if we need to be in the streets, I
will be in the streets,” said Ms.
Bush, whose district is solidly
Democratic. “That part of Cori
won’t change. I am still a boots-
on-the-ground type of person.”
If Ms. Bush’s stunning upset
over a Black incumbent on an
explicit message of racial justice
shows a new path forward for
Democratic challengers, then
Ms. Tlaib’s successful push to-
ward re-election proves that such
grass-roots candidates have
some staying power — not
achieving one-off wins, but build-
ing a strong movement.
Ms. Tlaib had become a favor-
ite target of conservative oppo-
nents since her slim victory in
2018, and had at times run afoul
of House Democratic leaders.
But she won by a comfortable
margin Tuesday, a sign that she
has established herself locally as
an effective legislator.
In Washington, Ms. Tlaib’s and
Ms. Bush’s victories had theeffect of sending a clear message
to those who still doubted: The
Squad and its allies are resilient.
Two more contests in the com-
ing month will bring further
clarity to the Democratic Party
landscape, as Representative
Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, an-
other Squad member, faces a
well-funded primary opponent
next week. And on Sept. 1 in
Massachusetts, Alex Morse, a
31-year-old mayor who has sup-
port from progressive groups like
Justice Democrats, is looking to
unseat Representative Richard
E. Neal, the chairman of the
powerful House Ways and Means
Committee.
Alexandra Rojas, the executive
director of Justice Democrats,
said the coronavirus pandemic
and the national protests over
racial inequality had given voters
a sense of urgency that aligns
with the big ideas progressives
have long pushed.
“Movements like ours tend to
spark up when there’s something
seriously wrong, and the pan-
demic highlighted that even
more,” she said. “It is so clear to
people we need to change some-
thing, and change something
fast.”
Mr. Bowman, who is expected
to be elected to Congress in
November in a safe Democratic
district, said he was convinced
the country and the party were
moving left.
“The country is ready to be-
come more progressive, and it is
becoming more progressive,” he
said. “The country is tired of
Democrats taking corporate
money. They don’t understand
how someone can be in office 10
or 20 or 30 years and they’re
struggling with housing and jobs
and criminal justice.”
This does not mean that the
progressives are without chal-
lenges, or that their current
ascension in the Democratic
Party is linear or inevitable.
Incumbents have beaten back
progressive challengers in Ohio,
New York and Texas this year,
and Mr. Biden’s victory ensures
that a moderate voice will lead
the party at least for the near
future.
Some Democrats also believe
the grass-roots energy is a con-
sequence of the unique political
environment, with liberals’ angertoward President Trump super-
charging fund-raising and politi-
cal interest in a way that could
dissipate in the future.
In an interview this spring,
Representative Gregory Meeks
of New York, the head of the
Congressional Black Caucus’s
political arm, dismissed the idea
that an influx of new representa-
tion would be a reason to adjust
the caucus’s electoral strategy.
The group almost exclusively
endorses incumbents, even when
they are running against Black
challengers. This has led it to be
on the wrong side of some recent
progressive victories, including
those by Representative Ayanna
Pressley of Massachusetts, Mr.
Bowman and now Ms. Bush.
“There’s many other races that
went the other way and the
incumbent won,” Mr. Meeks said.
“It’s about the record of the
person while they were in Con-
gress and the relationships they
have with the African-Americans
they represent. That’s what we
think is important.”
That speaks to how a growing
left-wing movement could fur-ther alter the balance of power
among Washington Democrats,
on Capitol Hill and potentially in
a Biden administration. More
than simply being left of party
leaders on the ideological spec-
trum, those in the new crop of
House leftists have an inside-
outside view of political power
and are open to pushing their
party publicly if they deem the
tactic necessary.
The Congressional Progressive
Caucus in the House, though
large in number, has rarely had
enough members willing to buck
party leadership, a key point of
distinction between it and the
famed Freedom Caucus, the
collection of House Republicans
who often pressure their party to
be more conservative.
But the newly elected progres-
sives make no secret of their
willingness to upend tradition,
which could make them a policy-
making force to be reckoned
with. They will also have a mean-
ingful say in who succeeds
Nancy Pelosi as the House Dem-
ocratic leader when she eventu-
ally retires, and on what tonethat person sets for the party.
When Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and
others arrived on Capitol Hill, in
2019, they rubbed uncomfortably
against the House Democratic
caucus in ways big and small. In
a body built around waiting one’s
turn — seniority still determines
major committee assignments —
many rank-and-file lawmakers
viewed Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s sit-in
in the speaker’s suite and her
willingness to challenge Ms.
Pelosi over policy as disrespect-
ful provocations.
But Ms. Bush and Mr. Bowman
are likely to bring a similar activ-
ist energy to Congress. Their
arrival will probably further
stoke tensions between national
progressives and the tight-knit
Congressional Black Caucus.
Before Tuesday’s primary, Mr.
Clay had explicitly accused Ms.
Bush and Justice Democrats of
targeting Black Caucus members
“because they think we are easy
targets.” His claim is not factu-
ally supported — the group tar-
geted just two Black incumbents
and backed Black challengers in
both races — but it is not an
uncommon view on Capitol Hill
among older Black lawmakers
who sit atop the party hierarchy.
Ms. Bush said her victory
should dispel any notion that
Black communities are not toler-
ant of primary challenges or
progressive policies.
“I don’t care what you look like
or what group you’re a part of,”
she said.
Mr. Bowman flatly rejected the
idea that Black elected officials
should be shielded from progres-
sive pressure.
He paraphrased a quotation
from the rapper Chuck D: “Ev-
ery brother ain’t a brother. So it’s
not just about being a member of
the Congressional Black Caucus,
but standing up and fighting for
your people.”
In the Massachusetts House
race, Ms. Pelosi released an
advertisement on Wednesday for
Mr. Neal, in a sign of how seri-
ously Democratic leaders are
taking the race. The same day,
Mr. Morse, the mayor of Holyoke,
Mass., issued a memo laying out
his path to victory. Its title: “Why
Richard Neal Is Next.”Representative Rashida Tlaib
of Michigan cruised in her pri-
mary against a more moderate
Democrat. And in New York,
Jamaal Bowman ousted a
longtime incumbent.SYLVIA JARRUS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMESNEWS ANALYSISFootholds for the Progressive Movement
Nicholas Fandos contributed re-
porting from St. Louis.
By ASTEAD W. HERNDONSTEPHANIE KEITH/GETTY IMAGESBiden won from the
middle, but the party
has shown fluidity.
ST. LOUIS — Cori Bush, a pro-
gressive activist and a leader of
the swelling protest movement for
racial justice, toppled Representa-
tive William Lacy Clay Jr. of Mis-
souri in a Democratic primary on
Tuesday, notching the latest in a
stunning string of upsets against
the party establishment.
Ms. Bush, 44, had captured
nearly 49 percent of the vote by
late Tuesday evening compared
with 45.5 percent for Mr. Clay, ac-
cording to The Associated Press.
She had tried and failed to unseat
Mr. Clay in 2018, but this year rode
a surge in support for more liberal,
confrontational politics within the
Democratic Party amid the coro-
navirus pandemic and the na-
tional outcry over festering racial
inequities.
Ms. Bush’s victory, which came
on the same night that Missouri
voters decided to expand Medic-
aid eligibility, was a significant
milestone for insurgent progres-
sive candidates and the groups,
like Justice Democrats, that have
backed them across the country. It
showed that the same brand of
politics that has helped young, lib-
eral candidates of color unseat
veteran party stalwarts in places
like Massachusetts and New York
could also resonate deep in the
heartland against a Black incum-
bent whose family has been syn-
onymous with his district for dec-
ades.
Ms. Bush now joins figures like
Representative Alexandria Oca-
sio-Cortez of New York, who de-
feated the 20-year veteran Repre-
sentative Joseph Crowley in 2018,
and Jamaal Bowman, who last
month won a primary against
Representative Eliot L. Engel, a
powerful committee chairman in
his 16th term representing a dis-
trict straddling the Bronx and
Westchester.
A single mother, former nurse
and pastor, Ms. Bush would be the
first Black woman to represent
the state of Missouri in Congress.
The plurality of the district, which
encompasses St. Louis and some
of its innermost liberal suburbs, is
African-American and considered
safely Democratic.
“Tonight, Missouri’s 1st District
has decided that an incremental
approach isn’t going to work any
longer,” Ms. Bush told supporters
at a jubilant news conference after
the race was called. “We decided
that we the people have the an-
swers, and we will lead from the
front lines.”
Mr. Clay, the scion of a storied
Black Missouri political dynasty
in his 10th term in Congress, had
tried to make the campaign a ref-
erendum on not only Ms. Bush’s
suitability for elected office but
also the progressive movement
behind her. He carried out a series
of dark, personal attacks in the
campaign’s final days to try to halt
Ms. Bush’s momentum and de-
scribed her as a “prop” of out-of-
town interests seeking to divide
the Democratic Party along racial
lines.
Mr. Clay highlighted his own
ties to the Democratic powerstructure, earning endorsements
from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sena-
tor Kamala Harris of California
and groups like Planned Parent-
hood.
Late Tuesday night, it was Jus-
tice Democrats, which helped
groom Ms. Bush and other suc-
cessful progressive challengers,
that was celebrating.
“If you don’t know, now you
know: The Squad is here to stay,
and it’s growing,” said Alexandra
Rojas, the group’s executive direc-
tor.Unlike other incumbents who
have lost in recent years, Mr. Clay
did not fit neatly into the moderate
or progressive wings of the party.
He had supported some hallmark
progressive policies in Washing-
ton, including “Medicare for all”
and the Green New Deal, but also
continued to take campaign
money from corporations. Ms.
Bush’s backers bashed him for
helping payday lenders.
Ms. Bush built her campaign
around her personal story as a
working-class Black woman who
was pulled into public life after a
white police officer shot and killed
Michael Brown, an unarmed
Black teenager, in Ferguson, Mo.,
in 2014. She joined protesters in
the days after the shooting, and in
the weeks and years that followed
became one of their leaders, star-
ing down tear gas, mace and rub-
ber bullets.
Ms. Bush was a fixture at pro-
tests across the district this sum-
mer after the police killings of
George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Speaking to reporters and a
small group of supporters Tues-day night through a medical
mask, Ms. Bush drew a bright line
from her experience confronting
the police on the streets where Mr.
Brown died to her victory at the
ballot box.
“I was maced and beaten by
those same police officers in those
same streets,” she said. “Six
months from now, as the first
Black congresswoman in the en-
tire history of Missouri, I will be
holding every single one of them
accountable.”
She added: “If you didn’t under-
stand what happened, what was
birthed right here in St. Louis,
Missouri, in St. Louis County, in
Ferguson, we’re about to show
you.”
Amid a worsening health and
economic crisis caused by the co-
ronavirus pandemic, Ms. Bush
pushed drastic changes to the na-
tion’s criminal justice system, in-
cluding defunding and disman-
tling police departments; called
for Medicare for all, a $15 min-
imum wage and a universal basic
income; and swore off corporate
campaign contributions.But as the campaign wore on,
she also began sharpening her at-
tacks against Mr. Clay directly, ac-
cusing him of “failed leadership”
after two decades in office. She
noted that he was largely absent
from the protests and questioned
his commitment to fighting for
voters in a city troubled by segre-
gation and economic stagnation.
“He’s had 20 years to make a
change, not only in St. Louis but
across this country,” Ms. Bush
said on Saturday. “He waits until
something is popular to stand up
for it, or he waits until there is
pressure. I do it just because that
is the need.”
The message ultimately res-
onated with voters, many of
whom had never before voted for
a congressman not named Clay.
William Lacy Clay Sr., a local civil
rights figure, entered Congress in
1969 and handed the seat to his
son when he retired in 2001.
While Mr. Clay narrowly car-
ried the portions of the district in
suburban St. Louis County, Ms.
Bush won a commanding victory
in the city of St. Louis.
Ms. Bush’s campaign explicitly
benefited from the momentum
claimed by progressives this sum-
mer and since 2018. A documenta-
ry about her 2018 campaign and
that of challengers like Ms. Oca-
sio-Cortez, “Knock Down the
House,” helped build a national
profile. And donations to her cam-
paign far outpaced those in 2018,
allowing her to advertise on TV
here, as other progressives
notched victories.
Ms. Bush’s victory comes just a
few weeks after Mr. Bowman, a
middle school principal from the
Bronx, upset Mr. Engel, the chair-
man of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee. In Illinois in March,
Marie Newman, another progres-
sive, defeated Representative
Dan Lipinski, a conservative
Democrat who opposed abortion
rights and the Affordable Care
Act. Like Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, each
challenger had the backing of Jus-
tice Democrats.
But while Ms. Bush had the
group’s enthusiastic support as
well — she was one of only two
challengers to Black incumbents
it endorsed this cycle — and was
endorsed by Mr. Bowman, Ms.
Ocasio-Cortez had conspicuously
sat on the sidelines. She had cam-
paigned for Ms. Bush in 2018, but
Mr. Clay courted the New York
Democrat in Washington, signing
onto the Green New Deal, and in-
viting Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and
other progressive lawmakers to
support some of his bills.20-Year Incumbent Loses Primary to Progressive Activist in St. Louis
Above, Kristine Hendrix, right, talks to Cori Bush, who defeated
William Lacy Clay, left, in Tuesday’s primary. Ms. Bush would be
the first Black woman to represent Missouri in Congress.ROBERT COHEN/ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESSANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESSBy NICHOLAS FANDOS