That Tsunami of Triumphant Anti-Israel Candidates? Not So Fast

The predicted wave of “progressive” candidates winning Democratic primaries by huge margins over the “establishment” Democrats, in large part because the latter haven’t been anti-Israel enough, just hasn’t panned out. Psephologists were sure that Abdul el-Sayed would defeat Haley Stevens in Michigan by at least sixteen percentage points; in the end, he won by only 14,000 votes out of 1.5 million cast — that’s a razor-thin margin of less than 1%.

In the same state, pro-Israel Jonathan Moss defeated Pakistani-American Aisha Farooqi in a race to represent the 11th District in Congress; the final vote was 59.9% for Moss and 32.3% for Farooqi — a veritable trouncing. In Missouri, Representative Wesley Bell, a mainstream Democrat who is reliably pro-Israel, defeated Cori Bush, who is even more reliably anti-Israel, just as he did two years ago, for the First Congressional District (including St. Louis) in Missouri. While Cori Bush was one of the first in Washington to accuse Israel of “genocide” and bizarrely put “All Eyes On Gaza” on some of her campaign posters, Bell has been steadfast in his support of Israel in Congressional voting. Not only did Bell defeat Bush, but he did so by a far greater margin than he did in 2024. In that year, Bell won 51% to 46% for Bush. This year, Bell had a runaway victory, with 59.2% of the votes to Bush’s 36.9%. Some would call that a landslide.

And the latest evidence that there is no huge “progressive” wave comes from Hawaii, where U.S. Congressman Ed Case, a Democrat from Hawaii with a pro-Israel voting record, defeated a progressive primary challenger in a landslide, with 55.7% for Case to 35.6% for his opponent, Jarett Keohokalole.

More on that race’s outcome can be found here: “Hawaii congressman defeats anti-Israel progressive upstart in Democratic primary,” Times of Israel, August 9, 2026:

US Congressman Ed Case, a Democrat from Hawaii with a pro-Israel voting record, defeated a progressive primary challenger on Saturday in a race that drew special attention after a string of wins by anti-Israel leftists in primary races elsewhere in the country.

The 73-year-old moderate led his opponent, State Senator Jarett Keohokalole, by more than twenty points when the Associated Press called the race, at 60-36, with 80 percent of the vote counted.

Keohokalole conceded the race, calling his opponent “a good guy.”

“We ran because we had policy differences and we ran because we felt that the moment called for more,” he said, according to the Honolulu Civil Beat, which noted a low turnout of some 29%.

The state senator, 43, called in his campaign for expanded government healthcare and ending military aid to Israel, an issue that has played a prominent role in Democratic primary campaigns this year, with anti-Israel candidates winning races in Michigan, New York and Colorado this year.

Case, who was elected to his seat in 2018, has a pro-Israel legislative record, having voted against a proposed ban on $3 billion in security aid to Israel just last month, while also criticizing Israel’s military response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught. Keohokalole has said he would have voted for the ban.

In other words, reports of the demise of the pro-Israel wing of the Democratic party are greatly exaggerated.