Khanna calls out progressives who haven’t endorsed Lipinski challenger

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is calling out other progressives who have yet to endorse Marie Newman, the primary challenger to centrist Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.).

Reps. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) “and I are so far the Democrats endorsing pro choice @Marie4Congress over anti choice, anti ACA, anti LGBTQ equality Dan Lipinski,” Khanna tweeted. “Honest question: Shouldn’t endorsing @Marie4Congress be a no brainer for anyone who is a progressive in Congress?” 

.@LaurenUnderwood, @AOC and I are so far the Democrats endorsing pro choice @Marie4Congress over anti choice, anti ACA, anti LGBTQ equality Dan Lipinski. Honest question: Shouldn’t endorsing @Marie4Congress be a no brainer for anyone who is a progressive in Congress?

— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) September 18, 2019

Lipinski has come under an avalanche of liberal criticism over his opposition to abortion and refusal to co-sponsor the Equality Act, though he did eventually vote for the legislation to expand civil protections for LGBTQ people despite earlier concerns that it could conflict with religious liberty. 

{mosads}Newman is running against Lipinski in Illinois’s 3rd Congressional District in a rematch of 2018, when she lost by just over 2,000 votes. 

Ocasio-Cortez, a leading progressive who was elected to Congress last year, threw her support behind Newman Tuesday.

“Marie Newman is a textbook example of one of the ways that we could be better as a party — to come from a deep blue seat and to be championing all the issues we need to be championing,” Ocasio-Cortez told The New York Times. 

“The fact that a deep blue seat is advocating for many parts of the Republican agenda is extremely problematic. We’re not talking about a swing state that is being forced to take tough votes.” 

Newman has come out in support of an array of progressive priorities, including “Medicare for All” and the Green New Deal. She has also picked up endorsements from Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), two leading progressives running for president. 

“The momentum is growing in our movement to make the Democratic Party fight for solutions as big as the problems we face and create a party of voters, not corporate donors,” Newman said in a statement Tuesday responding to Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement.