Rashida Tlaib wins Democratic nomination in new 12th District

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat facing yet another in a series of challenges from her own party, easily won the party's nomination early Wednesday in the newly drawn 12th Congressional District over Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey and two other candidates.

Tlaib, D-Detroit, who has become internationally known as a member of the progressive group of Democratic congresswoman known colloquially as "the squad," led Winfrey 64%-22% with 99% of the expected Democratic vote counted by midmorning Wednesday. The Associated Press called the race for Tlaib just after midnight.

"Our neighbors made it clear: No one should be able to come into our communities and tell us how to think or vote. Our democracy is ours. Yesterday, we showed folks that $1 million in attack ads can’t even come close to stopping our growing movement," Tlaib said Wednesday. "This girl from southwest Detroit isn't going anywhere. I’m just getting started.”

Other candidates in the race for the Democratic nomination, which in this solidly Democratic district was almost certain to decide the winner in November's general election, included Lathrup Village Mayor Kelly Garrett and former state Rep. Shanelle Jackson.

More: 6 races — and types of races — worth watching in Tuesday's Michigan primary

More: Ocasio-Cortez, other Squad members holding rally in Detroit on Sunday

Tlaib first won election to Congress in 2018, becoming the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress and, with Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., one of the first two Muslim women in the U.S. House. In doing so, she split a field of mostly Black candidates — including former Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones — to take the nomination for the full two-year term that followed in the majority Black district.

In 2020, she beat another challenge by Jones, who later retired from council. Over her two terms, Tlaib has proven herself to be a prodigious fundraiser, tireless campaigner and committed progressive. Still, some of her stances — she voted against a big infrastructure bill last year championed by her own party and has remained a vocal critic of Israel's treatment of Palestinians living in the occupied territories — have led to complaints in her own party, as did her delivering a response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address this year calling on him and other Democrats to do more.

That said, Tlaib went into this year's campaign and the challenge from Winfrey with a huge advantage in name recognition and money. While Winfrey attracted some support from pro-Israel groups, the funding some others saw from organizations like the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which is highly critical of Tlaib, never appeared for her at the same level.

Even though Tlaib lived in the newly created 13th Congressional District, she decided to move into the new 12th as it included much of the base she already had on Detroit's west side and in western Wayne County communities including Westland, Redford, Dearborn Heights and Inkster. And while the 12th added two big communities in Southfield and Livonia that were not part of her current district, it also added Dearborn — with one of the largest Arab-American populations in the country and where she is well known.

Susan Hicks, a 57-year-old environmental engineer in Dearborn, enthusiastically voted for Tlaib, though she said she will also miss voting for U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, who moved to Ann Arbor and into another newly created district.

“She (Tlaib) seems like she really tries hard for us,” Hicks said. “I love the fact that she's really (angered) the idiot that used to serve as president (former President Donald Trump). But I think she wants to try hard for people in Dearborn.”

Christel Ciolino, 28, is a new Dearborn resident who also voted for Tlaib.

“I'm progressive and I really do feel like she's the most progressive of all the candidates,” Ciolino said. “And I feel like, with the world we have, we need people who are boldly, really pushing progressive policies."

In the Republican primary in the predominantly Democratic district, Steven Elliott, a tattoo artist and laser specialist of Rochester Hills, defeated James Hooper of Livonia, who worked in the building trades and in overseas religious missions, and businessman Hassan Nehme of Dearborn Heights had.

Contact Todd Spangler at tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter. Staff writer Emma Stein contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tlaib wins race for Democratic nod in new Detroit-Dearborn district