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They hit the news six years ago and have barely left the headlines since, but what will 2024 mean for the so-called Democratic “Squad”?
The group was established in Congress in the 2018 midterm elections, held midway through Donald Trump’s term in the White House.
It emerged as what Democrats saw as a progressive correction and response to the former president’s populist conservative policies.
The original four members were minority women younger than the average member of the U.S. House of Representatives, who was 58 years old.
In successive congressional elections, more progressive politicians came to the House and joined the group, and their motto became: “I’m with the team.”
The new additions were either welcomed by the existing members themselves or linked to the growing section of legislators by the media.
Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley were elected to the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections in what was seen as a progressive response to Donald Trump’s presidency. They were immediately nicknamed “the squad”
However, in this election cycle, the roster has begun to shrink for the first time.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) was the first to fall after being defeated in his June primary election after just one term.
Then in August, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) also lost her primary election amid massive pressure from the pro-Israel camp to unseat pro-Palestinian members of Congress.
The 2024 elections raise many questions for the future of the country – and Congress – including whether the squad will maintain its influence.
Here, DailyMail.com breaks down the four main members of ‘The Squad’ and how the races are tilting in their respective districts:
While members have been added to the team over the past two election cycles, the 2024 cycle brought the group’s first losses after progressive Reps. Cori Bush (left) and Jamal Bowman (right) were defeated in their respective primaries. .
AOC: New York’s 14th congressional district
Republican candidate Tina Forte is taking on the big challenge of trying to unseat the team’s most famous member: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
AOC isn’t likely to go anywhere in her very safe blue district in New York City, which encompasses the eastern part of the Bronx and an area of north-central Queens.
The 35-year-old congresswoman won her primary this year with 81.1 percent of the vote and is on track for a fourth term.
AOC won her congressional seat in the 2018 election when she garnered a commanding 78.2 percent of the vote. Their margin of victory has decreased since then, but is still very wide.
The millennial lawmaker won her second term in 2020 with 71.6 percent of the vote and a third in 2022 with 70.6 percent.
There are very unlikely chances that AOC will surprise in November.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the most high-profile member of the team. When she was elected at age 29, she was the youngest woman to serve in the United States Congress.
Ilhan Omar: Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District
Possibly the second most recognizable member of the team, Somali-American Rep. Ilhan Omar, 42, faces Republican candidate Dalia al-Aqidi in the general election.
The Minnesota congresswoman became the first to wear a hijab in the U.S. House and was one of the first two Muslim women to be elected to Congress along with fellow Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
Omar had a too-close-for-comfort primary race against Democrat Don Samuels this cycle, with roughly 16,000 votes separating the two in their August election.
But Minnesota’s 5th District is by far the bluest in the state, with Cook’s partisan vote rating of Democrat+30, meaning Omar is highly unlikely to be unseated by her Republican rival in the U.S. election. November 5. Omar’s district includes Minneapolis, as well as several other surrounding cities.
In her first election to the House in 2018, Omar won 78.0 percent against Republican Jennifer Zielinski, who won 21.7 percent.
Omar is the first Somali-American to serve in Congress.
His family fled Somalia to escape the Civil War and spent four years in a refugee camp in Garissa County, Kenya.
Rep. Ilhan Omar often faces the ire of Republicans for her anti-Semitic comments. Omar was the first woman to wear a hijab in the United States House of Representatives.
The future congresswoman’s family obtained asylum in the United States and arrived in New York in 1995.
His family lived for a time in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Arlington, Virginia, before moving and settling in Minneapolis, which he now represents in the House of Representatives.
Omar has faced controversy during her time in Congress for her criticism of Israel.
Like the rest of the team, Omar is staunchly pro-Palestinian.
Omar speaks with his partner Rashida Tlaib during a press conference on March 13, 2019.
Rashida Tlaib – Michigan’s 12th Congressional District
The first Palestinian-American congresswoman overwhelmingly won her 2018 election to represent Michigan’s 13th district. He obtained 82.4 percent of the votes.
In 2020 he won the general election with 78.1 percent and in 2022 he won with 70.8 percent.
His margin of victory has dropped several points each election cycle, but so far it’s unclear how he’ll fare against Republican James Hooper on Nov. 5.
The lawmaker has also avoided fully endorsing Kamala Harris on the Biden administration’s role in the war in Gaza.
Tlaib’s district includes Dearborn and other western suburban areas of Detroit, which is a very blue area. He ran unopposed in his primary election this cycle.
In the 2020 census, Michigan lost a House seat, and in the 2023 redistricting, Rep. Tlaib’s jurisdiction changed to the 12th Congressional District.
Tlaib, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, also helped lead a coalition of Muslim voters and other anti-Israel voters in the presidential primary election, casting her votes “without compromise” rather than for President Joe Biden.
It was a show of widespread protest against Biden’s continued support for ally Israel in its war against Hamas terrorists operating from Gaza.
No lawmaker has been more openly critical of U.S. support for Israel.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib is the first Palestinian-American elected to Congress. She is a staunch defender of the Palestinian people and staunchly anti-Israel.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley rounds out the four original members of the ‘squad.’ Compared to the other members of the group, she keeps a relatively low profile.
Ayanna Pressley – Massachusetts’s 7th congressional district
Pressley, also first elected in the 2018 midterm elections, won her primary against fellow Democrat Michael Capuano by a 17.2 percent margin.
He ran unopposed in the general election and easily won his first term in the House.
Pressley’s district includes about three-quarters of the very liberal northeastern city of Boston and some of its northern and southern suburbs, which are also very progressive. There are no signs that the area will change anytime soon.
The congresswoman’s first re-election was easy, with no challengers in her primary and then 86.6 percent of people in her district voted for her to win another term.
In 2022, Pressley also had no rivals in the primaries and easily defeated her Republican rival with 84.6 percent.
No one entered the primary or general election race this year, so Pressley is on track for her fourth term along with the rest of the team.