But plans for a larger and more robust "squad" hinge on securing its foundation -- and defending the seats they first won in 2018.
Over the next 10 days, Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, will be tested by challengers who have sought to turn their star power against them, arguing, in both contests, that the freshmen lawmakers have chased the national spotlight at the expense of their districts.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who brushed aside a well-funded centrist opponent in June to cement her status in the party and on Capitol Hill, heard a similar line of attack. It didn't land. Allies of Omar and Tlaib, the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, say that their races will run a similar course, ending with decisive electoral confirmations that the Democratic Party's future, even with former Vice President Joe Biden as its presidential nominee, is being driven by a younger, more diverse and increasingly liberal voter base.
"There is a massive effort by Republicans and by the corporate wing of the Democratic Party to destroy the 'squad' and make it seem like they're vulnerable and out of touch," said Waleed Shahid, communications director for Justice Democrats, the group on the frontlines of the party's progressive insurgency. "But AOC was already able to show that much of that is manufactured. In terms of Rashida and Ilhan, I just think that the 'squad' represents the direction that the Democratic Party is heading."
The pressure points in Tlaib and Omar's contests are different. Omar represents Minnesota's 5th District, where George Floyd was killed by a police officer on Memorial Day. The district is a hotbed of activism and the state party's wheelhouse for driving turnout in statewide races. In Michigan, Tlaib's 13th District, which has seen its boundaries shift over the years and likely will again ahead of the 2022 midterms, has for most of the past six decades been represented by Black lawmakers with deep ties in Detroit politics.
Tlaib goes head-to-head with a familiar rival
Of the two, Tlaib, whose primary is this coming Tuesday, entered congressional politics in a more precarious position. She won the nomination two years ago in a six-way race with a little more than 31% of the vote. This time, Tlaib is in a head-to-head clash with Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones, who finished second in the 2018 primary and now has the support of the other four candidates from that race.
"When you think about the 13th Congressional District, historically, you go back to George Crockett, you can go back to Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, you can go back to Barbara-Rose Collins, you can go back to John Conyers," said Marvin Beatty of the Jones campaign, ticking off Black lawmakers who have represented the district in the past. "This has been a historically African American seat and it's unfortunate that two years ago a crowded field allowed that to change."
Tlaib's communications director, Denzel McCampbell, who is Black and
