Joe Concha on GOP 'underperforming' in midterms: 'Everything lined up for Republicans'
Fox News contributors Joe Concha, Brian Brenberg, and CPAC Foundation senior fellow Mercedes Schlapp joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss key races and why the elections weren't a 'red wave' like many pundits predicted.
Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the other members of the "Squad" were re-elected Tuesday, cruising to victory in their deep-blue congressional districts by wide margins.
The Associated Press has called the races for Ocasio-Cortez, as well as Reps. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.
2022 MIDTERM ELECTIONS: LIVE UPDATES
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., attends a campaign event for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in the Queens borough of New York City on Nov. 8, 2022. (Yuki Iwamura/Getty Images)
Each lawmaker represents a district that President Biden won by double digits in the 2020 election. Bowman, who represents New York's 16th Congressional District comprising parts of the Bronx and Westchester County, had the slimmest margin of victory and yet still was leading 65%-34% against Republican challenger Miriam Flisser, with more than 91% of results reporting.
"Thank you to every member of our community and every grassroots supporter for entrusting me with the great responsibility of representing NY-14 in Congress," Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a victory message on Twitter. "We do this with small dollars, every time. I remain grateful to all of you who make a new kind of governance possible."
Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley, and Tlaib were the founding members of the "Squad," who gained notoriety as freshman lawmakers after the 2018 election for pushing the Democratic House conference to the left. Bush and Bowman joined the informal group after winning election in 2020.
NEW YORK GOVERNOR RACE: HOCHUL BEATS ZELDIN IN ELECTION TO LEAD EMPIRE STATE
Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., listen during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on July 15, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images)
All six are comparatively young among House Democrats and have at times come under fire from the party's establishment for championing progressive causes like "defund the police," which may be popular in their districts but not with the rest of the country. As a group they opposed the bipartisan infrastructure bill favored by President Biden and have fought against compromises on government spending or other progressive priorities.
TLAIB WINS MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY, DECLARES SQUAD ‘HERE TO STAY, AND IT’S ONLY GETTING BIGGER'
Rep. Rashida Tlaib speaks during the Get Out the Vote Rally in Detroit. Michigan Democrats held a Get Out the Vote Rally for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer with former President Obama ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. (Dominick Sokotoff/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Though some members of the group faced primary challenges from moderate candidates earlier this year, they all easily defeated their challengers.
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"To every single volunteer, thank you for protecting people's right to vote. Thank you for caring enough. Thank you for showing up with joy and love," Tlaib tweeted Tuesday. "Tonight, we will show folks that our community is beautifully loud and powerful. We aren't going to be silenced."
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