Progressive ‘Squad’ in Congress Set To Grow in January

The far-left “squad” in Congress that has come to personify progressive politics over the past few years is set to see its ranks swell in January, as four new representatives who embraced liberal policies during their campaigns are sworn in as freshman members of the congressional class of 2023.All six members of the current squad — Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamal Brown of New York, Cori Bush of Missouri, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — easily won their races for re-election on Tuesday.The fresh faces who could potentially be joining them in January include Greg Casar of Texas, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Delia Ramirez of Illinois, and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, all of whom were endorsed by the progressive caucus and prevailed on a day that saw Republican dreams of a red wave dissipate as the votes were counted.The incumbent squaddies embraced their nickname after the 2018 election, when Ms. Ocasio Cortez used the word in the caption of an Instagram photograph of herself and the group’s other three original members — Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Omar, and Ms. Pressley — seated at a conference table at Washington. Mr. Brown and Ms. Bush became part of the group after getting elected in 2020.All of the group’s members were elected before reaching age 50 and have established themselves firmly on the left fringes of the Democratic Party, embracing such issues as a Green New Deal and the Medicare for All cause championed by older progressives such as Senator Sanders of Vermont.The 34-year-old Ms. Lee became the first Black woman elected to Congress from the state of Pennsylvania when she defeated Republican Mike Doyle in the state’s 12th congressional district. She is a two-term member of Pennsylvania’s state house and a former labor organizer.During her campaign, Ms. Lee’s platform included a familiar litany of left-wing causes, ranging from ending “racist” voter ID laws and “xenophobic” immigration policies to widening civil rights for LGBTQ+ citizens and expanding the Supreme Court so that “it cannot further roll back our fundamental freedoms and rights.” “This was a movement that was about what it looks like when we prioritize the most marginalized and really fight for what a real working-class movement can look like in this country,” Ms. Lee said during her election night party at downtown Pittsburgh.Another logical addition to the squad is the 25-year-old Mr. Frost, who becomes the first member of Generation Z — whose oldest members were born in 1997 — to take a seat in Congress. The Orlando-area Democrat’s background is as an activist, particularly with the student-led anti-gun violence group March for Our Lives.Mr. Frost, who describes himself as a Black Latino, said in an interview with the New York Times that he hopes to focus his congressional career on climate change, universal health care, and codifying Roe v Wade.“I come from a generation that has gone through more mass-shooting drills than fire drills,” he told the Times. “This is something that my generation has had to face head-on: being scared to go to school, being scared to go to church, being scared to be in your community. That gives me a sense of urgency.”Mr. Casar, a former member of the Austin, Texas, city council, won his election in that state’s 35th congressional district by a landslide Tuesday — getting 73 percent support to his Republican opponent’s 27 percent. He will be the first Latino of Austin to serve in the U.S. Congress.Mr. Casar is an outspoken progressive ally of the labor movement and campaigned alongside Mr. Sanders when the latter paid a visit to South Texas before the election.“We won this race on a bold, progressive, unapologetic platform that we’re taking all the way to the U.S. Congress,” Mr. Casar said on election night. “Together, we can tackle the real problems that people are facing — we can unionize our workplaces, win good-paying jobs, invest in affordable housing, restore abortion rights, tackle the climate crisis, and so much more.”The other potential inductee into the squad is Ms. Ramirez, a 39-year-old Chicago native and daughter of Guatemalan immigrants. Before being appointed to the Illinois house in 2018, she worked with a variety of advocacy groups and social services agencies in the Chicago area. She is the state’s first Latina congresswoman, and has pledged to use her voice in Congress to advocate for undocumented immigrants and reproductive rights.“We have done this and broken a glass ceiling for Latinas throughout the entire Midwest,” she said on election night. “We delivered this victory by campaigning on an unapologetically progressive platform, and a deep commitment to representing the needs of working people in Congress.”

Progressive ‘Squad’ in Congress Set To Grow in January

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