NORTH IRWIN, Pa. — U.S. Rep. Summer Lee stood with Republican and Democratic elected officials in Westmoreland County, holding an oversized check symbolizing federal dollars to rebuild a bridge, where behind her there was instead, a gaping hole.
“We’re not just delivering asphalt and concrete,” Lee said in the small town of about 800 people outside of Pittsburgh, a more conservative corner of the heavily Democratic district. “We’re investing in people.”
Lee is Pennsylvania’s most progressive representative and the state’s lone Democratic incumbent facing a serious challenger in April’s primary. Her race is a microcosm of the debate between progressive and moderate Democrats headed into the November general election, and it’s shaping up to be an early test of progressive strength against outside group spending.
A freshman Democrat and the first Black woman to represent the state in Congress, Lee won her primary in 2022 by less than 1,000 votes. She’s hoping to win reelection in the district, which includes parts of Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties, by focusing on constituent services and touting the more than $1 billion she’s brought home for projects in Western Pennsylvania.
But Lee’s primary challenger, Bhavini Patel, argues that she’s too extreme for the district and an antagonist to President Joe Biden, a message that has been buoyed by an outside group funded by Pennsylvania billionaire Jeffrey Yass. Lee’s opponents points to her advocacy on progressive issues, including calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and voting against the recent government funding bill.
“We’re building a campaign that reflects everyone’s voices,” Patel, a member of the Edgewood Borough Council, said in an interview. “Not just the fringe elements, but the mainstream Democratic voice.”
Lee, however, argues that attacking the left wing of the party could deter Democratic turnout in November.
“These are generational-defining battles playing out in these election cycles,” Lee said. “That’s the coalition President Joe Biden’s gonna need … which means that we can’t afford to beat them and punch left on them right now in primaries, and then expect them to turn themselves out again.”
Lee or Patel will likely face business executive James Hayes, who is running uncontested in the Republican primary, in the general election.
Outside money
Patel, a first-time candidate, was raised by a single mother who immigrated to Pittsburgh from India and opened a food truck business. She got involved in politics as an aide to former Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, a longtime Democratic officeholder.
She trails Lee in endorsements and funding but also has the backing of Moderate PAC, a group funded by Yass, a billionaire from the Philly suburbs who has given heavily to GOP candidates. Moderate PAC has bought $586,000 in ads that emphasize Patel’s background as a first-generation college student and describe Lee as an extreme opponent of Biden’s.
“She even voted against raising the debt ceiling,” a recent ad says, “risking America’s credit so she could become a media star of the far left.”
Lee has criticized Patel for receiving donations from Republicans and blasted the wider GOP meddling in Democratic primaries.
“This is a guy who’s Republican enough that Donald Trump himself is floating him as a possible cabinet secretary,” Lee said of Yass, who has been mentioned as a potential treasury secretary.
Patel has accused Lee of inflating her role in delivering federal money to the district, some of which was allocated before Lee’s election. She defended her donors and noted that Lee receives a sizeable amount of out-of-state donations.
“I think my opponent wishes she were running against a Republican,” Patel said. “She’s been trying to paint me as one. … I have nothing to do with outside organizations playing in this race.”
Lee’s position is much stronger than in 2022, when the pro-Israel group AIPAC’s political affiliate spent more than $2 million against her and she was outspent 4-1. That group has yet to get involved in this year’s race. Meanwhile, Lee is getting outside help from a trio of progressive PACs.
“This should be a five-alarm fire for Democrats,” said Usamah Andrabi, spokesperson for the Justice Democrats PAC, which backs Lee. “Across the country, Republican billionaires are coming into Democratic primaries and spending millions to call out Democrats for not being a good enough Democrat.”
Israel as a flashpoint
Lee was the first Pennsylvania representative in Congress to call for a cease-fire in Gaza, and she’s been Pennsylvania’s most vocal critic of Biden on the war.
That’s made for some heated debates between her and Patel, including in January, when Patel accused Lee of ignoring pro-Israel voters and “stoking antisemitism,” in social media posts.
Lee has said she cares about her Jewish constituents, and she withdrew from a speaking engagement at a February Council on American — Islamic Relations banquet in Philadelphia after critics noted it featured speakers with a history of making antisemitic and homophobic statements. Lee said she did not endorse the statements and wanted “to ensure my Jewish and LGBTQ+ constituents know their concerns are heard.”
Lee’s district includes the Squirrel Hill synagogue that houses three Jewish congregations attacked in 2018 by a gunman who killed 11 people.
While Lee has the backing of the Allegheny County Democratic Party, an independent Democratic ward in Squirrel Hill backed Patel. Karen Hochenberg, the group’s president, said that vote came after an influx of new members joined the club following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
“I think some of her actions, not necessarily the policies, but some actions have been very hurtful to the Jewish community in Pittsburgh and I think … Summer is going to possibly pay a price for that,” Hochenberg said.
Lisa Messineo, a Lee supporter, said she worries Lee’s stance on Gaza may hurt her, though she thinks plenty of voters in the region share the platform.
“You don’t have to be anti-Israel, or antisemitic to realize what’s happening in Gaza is a tragedy,” said Messineo, a member of the Penn Stratford Democrats. “But a lot of the old guard Democrats say all she wants to be is a member of the Squad. They don’t look at the work she does.”
The best ally for Biden
Lee has touted federal money, some of it from Biden-backed legislation — for bridges, abandoned wells, and lead pipe removal — as well as her connection to constituents. In North Irwin, she pledged to do even more to help small towns.
One of Patel’s arguments, though, is that it’s difficult for Lee to properly boost the president’s accomplishments when she’s also criticized him and voted against some of the bills he’s running on.
“Western Pennsylvania is critically important to getting Biden reelected,” Patel said. “What we need is someone who’s going to vocally and proudly tout the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law … and talk about how Biden has delivered for this region.”
Lee was not a member of Congress for passage of the Inflation Reduction Act or the Infrastructure Law votes. She voted against raising the debt ceiling, which had stripped funding from SNAP recipients, and she was one of 22 Democrats who voted against a recent government funding bill because of the military aid it included for Israel.
She argues that she hasn’t voted against a bill when her party needed her vote to pass it.
“There’s no vote that we go into that we don’t have a whip count,” Lee said. “And we don’t know where someone is voting or why they’re voting that way.”
And Lee, who earlier this year joined Vice President Kamala Harris for a campaign event in Pittsburgh, thinks votes challenging her party appeal to younger, progressive voters, whom Biden needs in November.
“When they see us taking that stand and speaking truth to power … they get encouraged by that,” Lee said. “And it increases our likelihood to bring new people to the party.”
