Midterm Blue Wave Floods Congress With Leftists — Will They Swamp the Democrats?

Congressman Hakeem Jeffries was already striking a conciliatory note when he took the stage Tuesday night as the presumptive Speaker of the House amid a midterm rout by Democrats. “This is a change election, and we understand as House Democrats that we need to deliver dramatic change,” the New York congressman said as his party continued collecting House and Senate seats. “America is not for sale.”Mr. Jeffries was speaking not just to his supporters, but to the incoming squadron of hard-left politicians set to join him on Capitol Hill come January, several of whom have floated a change of leadership for the party, and their deep-pocketed donors. Many of those-soon-to-be lawmakers — including high-profile candidates such as New York’s socialist firebrand Darializa Avila Chevalier — have called to get money out of politics, while accepting significant donations from political action committees tied to activist billionaire George Soros’ family and others. While the Soros’ Democracy PAC appears on few donor lists in this cycle, secondary committees financed by Democracy PAC donations are a dime a dozen. The Working Families Party PAC, for instance, has accepted $8 million from Democracy PAC this year, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Working Families was a top donor to incoming Democratic Socialists Chris Rabb, congressman-elect for Pennsylvania, Melat Kiros, who will soon represent Colorado, and Donavan McKinney of Michigan.Mr. Rabb, Ms. Kiros, Mr. McKinney, and their fellow socialists Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez have also accepted funds from Justice Democrats PAC, an anti-Israel political action committee that helped power Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s insurgency in 2018. Justice Democrats has received funds this election cycle from the pro-Palestine American Priorities PAC and the The Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project PAC, which began funding leftist candidates shortly after October 7, 2023.That pro-Palestine funding network was established in direct opposition to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and affiliated PACs, which rank among the largest contributors to American congressional races. “We must end all US military funding for violence abroad — from Israel’s ongoing genocide, apartheid, and annexation to the UAE’s funding of genocide and war crimes in Sudan to Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses and funding for war in Yemen,” Justice Democrats’ ‘Progressive Foreign Policy’ page states. “That funding, demanded and enabled by the establishment, Israel lobbies like AIPAC, and corporate defense contractors, has led us down the continued path of death and destruction globally.” Mr. Jeffries, in contrast to his new colleagues, has received more than $1 million from AIPAC over the course of his career, according to campaign finance monitors including OpenSecrets and TrackAIPAC.In a joint interview with Politico last month, Ms. Avila Chevalier and Ms. Kiros were both noncommittal when the reporter pressed them about backing Mr. Jeffries for the speaker role.“When it comes to the speaker vote, my concern is far less with who is in that position and much more with what agenda they are going to be leading the Congress and the caucus with,” Ms. Kiros said. The pair left Mr. Jeffries an opening to convince them he could deliver on the affordability, organized labor, and anti-Israel promises underpinning their campaigns, should he hope to corral his far-left caucus — and appease their donors.

Midterm Blue Wave Floods Congress With Leftists — Will They Swamp the Democrats?

Midterm Blue Wave Floods Congress With Leftists — Will They Swamp the Democrats?

More from the New York Sun

The Great Pretender

Susan Collins Loses in Maine, Ending 30-Year Reign in Senate

Rout of GOP Leaves Political Survivors Adrift

El-Sayed Wins in Michigan, Offers Glimpse of Approach He Will Take to Washington

The Unlikely, or Terrifying, End Games in Russia’s War Against Ukraine

Lawfare’s Slippery Slope Risks Criminalizing Politics

‘Blunami’ Floods Senate After Democratic Victories Across America

Georgia Elects First Black Female Governor in America

More from the New York Sun

The Great Pretender

Susan Collins Loses in Maine, Ending 30-Year Reign in Senate

Rout of GOP Leaves Political Survivors Adrift

El-Sayed Wins in Michigan, Offers Glimpse of Approach He Will Take to Washington

The Unlikely, or Terrifying, End Games in Russia’s War Against Ukraine

Lawfare’s Slippery Slope Risks Criminalizing Politics

‘Blunami’ Floods Senate After Democratic Victories Across America

Georgia Elects First Black Female Governor in America