Well, another democratic socialist decided to take a swing at the establishment, and the establishment swung back like a wrecking ball. Rep. Greg Stanton absolutely demolished challenger Kai Newkirk in Arizona's Democratic primary on Tuesday night, and it wasn't even remotely close. As Trending Politics reported, the former Phoenix mayor grabbed 68.1% of ballots compared to Newkirk's 31.9%, which is the kind of margin that makes you wonder why anyone bothered counting.
Stanton, who has represented Arizona's 4th Congressional District since winning his seat in 2018, celebrated the blowout with a statement about how voters picked "proven leadership" that "delivers real results." Translation: they picked the guy they already knew over the guy screaming about AIPAC on social media.
Newkirk, a 45 year old activist, basically built his entire campaign around opposing Israel and railing against AIPAC's influence. He pointed to a $45 million text message campaign designed to boost Israel's image as proof of election interference. He also bragged about getting arrested more than 25 times for civil disobedience and declared he would sooner sit in a jail cell than accept a single penny from the pro-Israel lobby. Bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see how it worked out. Oh wait, we already know.
His platform called for cutting all military aid to Israel and slapping an arms embargo on the country. He also went after Stanton for voting against a Thomas Massie amendment that would have reduced military assistance to Israel, calling the congressman "disgraceful" for taking over $300,000 from AIPAC.
Stanton fired back on X, arguing that the amendment would have weakened America's ability to push back against threats from Iran. He also took shots at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and suggested "clear change is necessary" before the U.S. and Israel's security agreement expires in 2028. So he's not exactly waving an Israeli flag at a parade, but apparently that nuance was enough for voters.
Newkirk did manage to rack up some progressive endorsements, including from Our Revolution, the Progressive Democrats of America, and Young Turks host Cenk Uygur, who praised him for being "Israel Free." Unfortunately for Newkirk, endorsements from internet progressives don't always translate into actual votes from actual humans in actual polling places.
To make things even more awkward, the Young Democrats of Arizona yanked their endorsement before Election Day, citing "some concerning patterns of behavior" without elaborating further. Newkirk denied any wrongdoing and blamed the whole thing on a smear campaign tied to what he called "a wave of wins by democratic socialists." That wave apparently crashed before reaching the shores of Maricopa County.
Stanton now advances to face Republican Zuhdi Jasser in the November general election. Meanwhile, Newkirk joins the growing list of socialist challengers who discovered that being loud on social media is not the same thing as winning over a congressional district. Arizona Democrats looked at the anti-Israel, anti-establishment pitch and collectively said, "No thanks, we're good." A 36 point loss tends to send that message pretty clearly.
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