PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — We have been living with the glaring presence of Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar in Congress for 15 months. Finally, we have some idea of the forces that could decide Tlaib’s political future. Likewise for a Republican congressman who is perceived as anti-Israel.
The other week, Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones announced that she will challenge Tlaib in the Democratic primary next August to represent part of Detroit and some of the city’s suburbs, according to the website Jewish Insider.
On the Republican side, Todd McMurtry is running in eastern Kentucky against four-term incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie, whom the Republican Jewish Coalition describes as “the only anti-Israel member of the House GOP caucus.”
Tlaib’s hostility toward Israel has been on public display since she took office in January last year. Michigan politics suggest that Tlaib and her ideology could face some odd twists and turns not only this year but even in 2022 during the following election.
She will no doubt face a tough primary battle in August and, if she survives that, possibly coast to re-election in November. Then she must contend with redistricting when the state is expected to lose one of its 14 congressional districts. No hard information yet on Omar’s political situation. Tlaib is a native Michigander whose family came from Israel’s West Bank territory, and Omar endured much turmoil as a child born in Somalia whose family found its way to Minneapolis. Both are Muslims.
For two reasons, Tlaib’s re-election may make little practical difference. Brenda Jones, who is so far Tlaib’s main primary rival, is a follower of Louis Farrakhan, the raving anti-Semite who leads the Nation of Islam, The Forward reports.
Jones has often participated in the Nation of Islam’s annual “Saviour’s Day” convention when it has been held in Detroit. Farrakhan invited her on stage during his 2018 speech, as The Detroit News reported, according to The Forward. Her chief of staff, Steven Grady, said at this year’s event that Jones sponsored a city council resolution praising The Final Call, the Nation of Islam’s newspaper, a report which The Forward attributed to the Anti-Defamation League.
The council president was expected to run against Tlaib after she narrowly lost to her in the 2018 primary in a six-candidate race, 31.2 percent for Tlaib and 30.2 percent for Jones. Afterwards, several Jewish community members reached out to Jones to urge her to run against Tlaib, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported last year. Whoever wins the primary will likely take the general election because Detroit is a Democratic town. Unless Jones can offer a convincing explanation, the victor in the general election will lack trust in the Jewish community.
If anti-Israel representatives like Tlaib and Omar are returned to office, the impact on Israel will probably remain limited. Most congressional Democrats are pro-Israel and many are expected to get re-elected. If enough moderates lose re-election bids, the Democrats can lose the majority, anyway.
A year ago, I wrote that Tlaib could end up as a one-termer because she snuck in during a six-candidate field with more than 68 percent of Democrats voting against her, and pro-Israel donors will jump at the chance to contribute to a viable challenger. When Jewish community members did outreach to Jones, they were either unaware of her Farrakhan ties, or this link turned out not to be problematic.
Or they expect neither Tlaib nor Jones can represent a district that no longer exists. Michigan is widely expected to lose one congressional district once redistricting is approved. If history is any guide, Michigan’s largest city – Detroit – will be sliced up. It could well be Tlaib’s district that is cut out from under her. That would inevitably leave Tlaib facing one of her Democratic House colleagues in the primary or a Republican colleague in the general election. Maybe one Democratic House member will retire and avoid an intramural clash.
In Philadelphia in 2018, during a court-ordered redistricting, Democratic Rep. Bob Brady’s district was split between Delaware County to the south which was represented by a Republican and Northeast Philadelphia represented by a Democrat. Yet in the 2018 elections, all but one of the congressional districts held by Republicans around Philadelphia were flipped by Democrats. Brady is now retired from Congress.
Tlaib would face either Debbie Dingel or Brenda Lawrence, who also represent parts of Detroit. Lawrence, who was elected to Congress in 2014, is pro-Israel, taking an indirect swipe at Tlaib and Omar in The Detroit Jewish News, “I think about the comment we heard from one of my colleagues about the Jewish community ‘buying’ the Democratic process.”
The African-American congresswoman added, “I don’t think my colleagues know how small the population of the Jewish community is or understand the diversity inside of the Jewish community. I tell them you cannot put a label on the Jewish people; and if you have a concern, reach out and talk to someone.”
Lawrence is a longtime fixture in Michigan politics. She was formerly mayor of Southfield and unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor.
Dingell, once seen as pro-Israel among donors, was among 17 Democrats who voted last July against a nonbinding resolution condemning BDS that passed in the House, according to the Jewish Telegraph Agency. The month before, she co-sponsored a bill to prevent Israel from using U.S. military aid to detain Palestinian minors.
The Dingell name has been associated with her district since 1932, when her father-in-law, John Dingell Sr., was elected. He was succeeded by her husband, John Dingell, in 1955, and since his death his widow has held the position.
In northeastern Kentucky, the Republican Jewish Coalition announced last Friday that it will raise funds for Todd McMurtry to defeat Rep. Thomas Massie in the Republican primary after Massie voted against a resolution condemning the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and in 2014 was the only Republican from either party to oppose the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act, and subsequently he voted against sending emergency aid to Israel, the website Jewish Insider reported.
Massie made the spotlight last week when he tried to slow down the $2 trillion to bail out companies and individuals impeded by the coronavirus crisis.
His challenger, attorney Todd McMurtry, said, “I know that the people here want their elected representatives to be strong supporters of Israel.”
The re-election of Tlaib or Massie could well generate more unnecessary angst for American Jews, but we have endured far worse.
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Bruce S. Ticker is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. He may be contacted via bruce.ticker@sdjewishworld.com