The surprise decision Wednesday morning of Michigan Democrat Rep. Brenda Lawrence not to seek re-election breathed new life into the political career of Rep. Rashida Tlaib — a progressive Democrat with whom controversy has been a constant companion since her initial election in 2018.
As soon as Lawrence become the 25th House Democrat to announce retirement, Tlaib declared she would move to run in the newly redistricted 12th District, which Lawrence is leaving.
Tlaib, one of the first two Muslims elected to the House, has at various times called for abolishing police, prisons, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and ending U.S. aid to Israel. She took the oath of office as U.S. Representative in 2019 on an English-language version of the Quran and wore a traditional Arab dress known as a thawb (pronounced “thobe”).
A member of the far-leftist “Squad” in the House, Tlaib lost a 2017 special election to the House in the present 13th District (Detroit) but rebounded a year later to unseat fellow Democrats as well as Rep. Brenda Jones. In a 2020 rematch with Jones, Tlaib emerged the winner by 2-to-1.
Lawrence, the lone Black House member from Michigan, had her old 14th District carved up into the new 12th — one that merged her home base of Southfield, where she previously served as mayor before being elected to Congress in 2016, with fresh turf from the West Side of Detroit as well as Dearborn, Westland, and other parts of Wayne County.
In opting to run in the new 12th, Tlaib, who now represents another part of Detroit, will also have significant swatches that she already represents in the present 13th District.
For the first time in its history, Michigan’s congressional map was drawn by an independent commission rather than the state legislature. The districts that include Wayne County were changed decisively. Democrat Rep. Debbie Dingell announced on Tuesday she would leave the current Dearborn-based 12th District to run in the new 6th District, which includes roughly 60% of her old district but not her home turf of Dearborn.
In an interview shortly after announcing her decision, Dingell shed a tear as she discussed moving to a Dearborn-free district.
“You know, I lived there with my husband [the late Democrat Rep. John Dingell] for a long time,” she said, “But I still have all the people that I love.”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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