“You need someone who will focus on your needs and will work with others to build coalitions,” Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones said as she dropped the hammer on Rashida Tlaib.
“You need someone who will work to strengthen education for our children, and provide the best health care action — someone to unite our district… someone who will work to improve the district’s economy.”
Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones is not playing around in her hotly contested primary election that could send Tlaib to the unemployment line. Remember, Jones is not some longshot, she actually beat Tlaib in a special election for this seat in 2018.
From Fox News: “As Michigan’s 13th Congressional District Representative, Tlaib has worked hard to become an international rock star,” Jones tweeted in late July. “Representative Tlaib has a huge war chest of nearly $2 million. The money in Rashida Tlaib’s war chest is mostly from people around the world.”
She added: “This means Tlaib is beholding (sic) to her money people, & not focused on the citizens of the 13th Congressional District.”
Jones also previously knocked Tlaib for calling Trump a “m—–f—–” and booing Hillary Clinton at a Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign event. Jones told the New York Times that she’s been contacted by people in her district saying if she were in office, she would be “more professional than this.”
But as a much better funded, yet still unsuccessful, primary challenge of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., by former CNBC journalist Michelle Caruso-Cabrera showed, the progressive “Squad” members are hard to unseat. And Tlaib has touted her progressive credentials, amplifying endorsements from the Detroit Democratic Socialists of America, Center for Popular Democracy, the EPA workers union and other progressive groups. She’s also backed by Sanders, I-Vt.
And like Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib has been a prolific fundraiser. She had more than $900,000 cash on hand as of mid-July, per FEC records, whereas Jones had just over $21,000. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also endorsed Tlaib last week.
From The Hill:
Tlaib now faces a serious challenge from Jones, a well-known leader in Detroit currently serving as the president of the City Council, in the 13th District primary.
Jones narrowly defeated Tlaib in the special election to fill the remainder of the term of the late Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) in 2018, after the long-term congressman resigned following sexual misconduct allegations.
However, Tlaib pulled off a win in the six-way primary to replace Conyers and Jones when the new term was due to start in 2019, in a race that took place on the same day as the special election.
“It’s the Conyers district. Notwithstanding how his career ended, the man’s a civil rights hero. That’s certainly an advantage for Brenda Jones in this race,” said Adrian Hemond, a Michigan-based Democratic strategist, regarding Jones, who’s African American.
“It’s a majority African American city. It’s a majority African American congressional district, and to the extent that those voters are interested in symbolic representation, that’s not Rep. Tlaib.”
As Michigan’s 13th Congressional District Representative, Tlaib has worked hard to become an international rock star. Representative Tlaib has a huge war chest of nearly $2 million. The money in Rashida Tlaib’s war chest is mostly from people around the world. (Pt 1/4)
— Brenda Jones (@VoteBrendaJones) July 20, 2020
There's a lot of chatter of where I currently stand on the Presidential election and I want to make it clear- I will do all I can to make sure Donald Trump does not win. My full statement here:
P.S. From day one folks! pic.twitter.com/tGivrHvR9h
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) July 29, 2020
