Well, another progressive insurgent tried to storm the castle, and the castle just laughed. Rep. Greg Stanton absolutely walloped democratic socialist Kai Newkirk in Arizona's Democratic primary on Tuesday, as Conservative Brief reported, cruising to victory with roughly 68.1% of the vote compared to Newkirk's 31.9%. That's not a close race. That's a beatdown wearing a polite smile.
Stanton, who used to be Phoenix's mayor before winning his congressional seat back in 2018, will now gear up for November's general election against Republican Zuhdi Jasser. After the results came in, Stanton released a statement that was basically the political equivalent of a mic drop. He said voters were presented with a genuine choice about Democratic leadership, and they picked "proven leadership that fights back, delivers real results, and brings our party together." Translation: they picked him, and it wasn't even close.
Newkirk's whole campaign strategy revolved around making U.S. support for Israel the central issue of the race. He went after Stanton for taking over $300,000 from AIPAC and hammered the congressman for voting against an amendment from Rep. Thomas Massie that would have slashed military aid to Israel. Newkirk wanted an arms embargo and an end to military assistance entirely. Bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see how it worked out. Oh wait, we already know. It didn't.
Stanton fired back by arguing that cutting military aid would undermine America's ability to counter Iranian threats, while also noting he's publicly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on multiple occasions. So basically, he played the "I can walk and chew gum" card, and voters apparently found that more appetizing.
Newkirk did manage to rack up endorsements from progressive groups like Our Revolution, Progressive Democrats of America, and Track AIPAC. He also got a nod from Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks. But his campaign hit some turbulence in the final stretch when the Young Democrats of Arizona pulled their endorsement, citing "concerning patterns of behavior" without getting into specifics. Newkirk denied any wrongdoing and called it a political smear job. Nothing says "campaign going great" like losing endorsements right before election day.
To his credit, Newkirk did condemn antisemitism and spoke out after two Israeli Embassy employees were killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington last year, expressing solidarity with "my beloved Jewish siblings" while maintaining his opposition to the military campaign in Gaza.
This race was being watched nationally as a litmus test for whether the anti-Israel progressive lane could knock off establishment Democrats. The answer from Arizona's 4th Congressional District voters? A resounding "nah, we're good." While democratic socialist candidates have notched some wins around the country in recent cycles, this particular experiment in making foreign policy the centerpiece of a House primary flopped harder than a pancake on a hot griddle.
Now Stanton pivots to the general election while Republicans are presumably rubbing their hands together, hoping Democratic infighting will give them an opening in November. Good luck with that after a 36 point blowout.
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