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Washington DC – Three days after the assaults on September 11, 2001, the USA Home of Representatives convened to authorize a navy response, which would come with laws that will function the authorized foundation for the invasion of Afghanistan and a broader “Conflict on Terrorism”. Will work in.
The vote was overwhelming: 420 to at least one. The one dissenter was Consultant Barbara Lee, California Democrat.
On Tuesday, Lee — at age 77 — will seemingly face the most important electoral take a look at of her profession when California holds a main election for her open Senate seat.
The congresswoman is working in that race primarily based on her credentials as an anti-war candidate. Nevertheless, this time her focus is on attaining a ceasefire in Gaza – a scenario she says isolates her from the remainder of the area.
Lee is competing in opposition to greater than 20 different candidates, together with distinguished Democratic representatives like Adam Schiff and Katie Porter. The stakes are excessive: Schiff, Lee and Porter have all opted to not search re-election to the Home to deal with their Senate possibilities.
This implies Lee may undergo his first electoral defeat in 26 years on this yr's Senate main. However his candidacy highlights the vary of Democratic views towards Israel's struggle in Gaza — a spectrum that might fracture because the occasion seeks unity on the poll field.
To me, management is doing what's proper.
Then the one vote was forged in opposition to the struggle in Afghanistan.
California's solely US Senate candidate is now calling for a everlasting, unconditional ceasefire.
Please vote for me, peace and safety candidate Barbara Lee, by tomorrow, Tuesday! pic.twitter.com/uFcBCJMdd2
– Barbara Lee (@BarbaraLeeForCA) 4 March 2024
A beacon for progressives
Amar Shergil, chairman emeritus of the California Democratic Occasion Progressive Caucus, is amongst these supporting Lee's Senate bid.
He instructed Al Jazeera that Lee's stance on Israel's struggle in Gaza was one of many causes he publicly supported her marketing campaign. He stated, “Barbara Lee is a voice for ending struggling world wide, and she is going to combat for it, whatever the political price.”
Over the previous months, Lee has reiterated his name for a ceasefire in Gaza dozens of instances on his social media accounts, making it a defining aspect of his marketing campaign.
People – and particularly Democrats – have expressed concern in regards to the dire situations in Gaza, the place Israel has killed greater than 30,000 Palestinians.
A February ballot by the Related Press and the NORC Middle for Public Affairs Analysis discovered that half of People thought Israel had “gone too far” in its navy marketing campaign. Nevertheless, that quantity reached 62 p.c amongst Democrats alone.
However many mainstream members of the Democratic Occasion have lengthy resisted requires a everlasting ceasefire, as a substitute affirming help for an Israeli navy strike. They embody President Joe Biden, who not too long ago expressed hope for the ceasefire to carry – although definitely not an finish to hostilities.
Lee's supporters hope his stance on the problem will give him a shock victory on Tuesday. Opinion polls present her trailing her Democratic rivals Schiff and Porter, in addition to Republican contender and former baseball participant Steve Garvey.
Overseas coverage isn’t a high precedence on the poll field, however Shergill stated voters are more and more drawing parallels between injustice in Palestine and home inequality.
“The youth are impressed by his ethical readability. We see immigrant communities who perceive that what is occurring in Palestine may also occur to their kinfolk in ancestral properties world wide,” Shergill instructed Al Jazeera.
California's 'Jungle' Elementary
The Senate race in California – probably the most populous state within the nation – is scheduled to fall on Tremendous Tuesday, a key date within the US electoral calendar. Extra states maintain primaries on that date than every other.
The investigation into that high-profile event additionally consists of the symbolism behind this explicit Senate race. Lee and different Senate candidates purpose to fill the long-held seat of the late Senator Dianne Feinstein, a distinguished Democrat who died in 2023.
Feinstein holds the title of longest-serving feminine senator within the historical past of the US Congress. Following her demise, California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed LaFonza Butler to serve the rest of his time period.
However Butler has declined to run within the 2024 election, leaving the Senate race with out an incumbent. An open Senate seat is uncommon in California, a Democratic stronghold. Whoever wins will serve a six-year time period in Congress.
Most states maintain partisan primaries, the place candidates from totally different events compete on separate slates to say their occasion's nomination for the overall election.
However California has what is called a “jungle main”: candidates, no matter political occasion, compete collectively within the first spherical of voting and the highest two vote-getters face off within the normal election.
So a Democrat like Lee must compete not solely with members of his personal occasion, but additionally with Republicans and independents.
Candidate
Republican baseball star Garvey has led a secret marketing campaign that has surprised political observers. A number of polls present him tied with or surpassing Porter for second place.
However even when Garvey makes it to the overall election, Democrats are extensively anticipated to retain the Senate seat in November.
Schiff, an ally of former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is at present the frontrunner. Schiff, thought of a favourite of the occasion institution, developed a nationwide profile in 2019 after main the impeachment inquiry into then-President Donald Trump.
Porter, in the meantime, is a left-wing legislator who rose to prominence along with her shopper advocacy and criticism of main companies.
On home points, Lee, Schiff and Porter share related views with totally different approaches. Even Schiff – thought of a centrist within the race – helps progressive priorities like common well being care and a Inexperienced New Deal local weather plan.
However the struggle on Gaza stays a major level of distinction. Schiff, the previous chairman of the Home Intelligence Committee, is a staunch defender of Israel. Final month, he voted with the Republican majority in favor of a $17.6 billion assist invoice for Israel. Most Democrats opposed the measure, which in the end failed as a result of it didn’t embody assist for Ukraine.
Porter, who has been in Congress since 2019, shouldn’t be recognized for her overseas coverage positions however can also be a vocal supporter of Israel. In December, he referred to as for a ceasefire with one caveat: that Hamas be eliminated “from operational management of Gaza”.
In the identical assertion, Porter falsely blamed Hamas, not Israel's blockade, for years of “shortages of meals, clear water, gas and drugs” in Gaza.
“I consider we’d like a everlasting ceasefire,” he not too long ago instructed the Los Angeles Instances. “This can be a battle between Israel and Hamas, and the job of the USA is to convey Israel and Hamas into dialogue and determine what the preconditions are, like the discharge of hostages and separate management in Gaza.”
In distinction, Lee has constantly referred to as for a right away and unconditional ceasefire.
In November 2023, Lee stated, “Political and diplomatic options are the one approach to obtain peace, safety and justice for Israelis and the Palestinian folks.”
The congressman has additionally been endorsed by distinguished progressives supporting Palestinian rights, together with Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Mark Pocan.
Nonetheless, it has struggled to boost cash like Schiff and Porter, who’ve extra institutional backing. For instance, filings with the Federal Election Fee present that Schiff had about $34.9 million in “money readily available” for his marketing campaign in January.
Lee's likelihood
So does Lee have an opportunity within the Tremendous Tuesday race?
Yasser Dahbour, president of the Palestine American League, says he’s “optimistic” however lifelike about their prospects.
“She stood there, and she or he is resonating with voters, however there are different components at play,” Dahbour instructed Al Jazeera. “And sadly, in American politics, cash has an excessive amount of affect on the end result and consequence of elections.”
Dahbour praised Lee's advocacy for a everlasting ceasefire in Gaza, calling him a voice for justice, however stated it remained to be seen how a lot his positions would affect voters past the progressive base.
For his half, Shergill rejected surveys that present Lee behind the three different main candidates, saying early indications level to a low turnout on Tuesday.
“In an election with low turnout, the sort of energetic individuals who wish to see Barbara Lee elected may make a distinction,” he stated.