FIRST ON FOX: The midterm elections have come and gone and the Democrats have lost control of the House of Representatives, but gained some new members with far-left policy stances.
While Republicans underperformed expectations in November, the Democrats still lost control of the lower house of Congress, setting up a GOP-controlled chamber with a razor-thin margin.
Among the incoming freshman class are two Democrats who have voiced support for abolishing prisons.
Rep.-elect Summer Lee, D- Penn., a progressive Democrat, is taking over the district of longtime Democratic Rep. Mike Doyle in Washington.
Lee is a Democratic socialist backed by Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., whose political path is mirroring that of far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
She has openly endorsed several socialist policies — including the redistribution of wealth — as well as controversial progressive policies like abolishing prisons.
‘Instead of ‘thanking’ Black women, Black voters, and especially, Black organizers… give us the investments we need and deserve, redistribute wealth, ends police violence, abolish the carceral state, commit to building Black directed political power… and reparations,’ Lee tweeted in November 2020.
Florida gained a young, progressive congressman, as well, in the form of Rep.-elect Maxwell Frost, who endorsed the anti-police and anti-prison group Dream Defenders in 2020.
Frost’s endorsement of Dream Defenders included a call ‘for a prison [and] police free society.’ He also endorsed other far-left groups including the radical environmental group, the Sunrise Movement.
Frost was endorsed by both Sanders and Warren, as well as several other progressive groups and lawmakers.
The Democrats have seen an uptick in progressive and socialist membership as the party continues to lurch leftward, even in conservative states.
Texas will see a progressive Democrat headed to Washington next Congress, with Rep.-elect Greg Casar — a self-described democratic socialist who was endorsed by the ‘Squad’ leader herself — taking a seat to represent parts of Austin and San Antonio.
The progressive gains will serve Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow ‘Squad’ members well, as it gives them more leverage in getting their priorities at the front of the party.