In contentious primary, Summer Lee and Bhavini Patel accuse each other of extremism and dog whistles

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It's one of the most contentious elections on the April 23 ballot -- the race between Congresswoman Summer Lee and her Democratic challenger, Edgewood Councilwoman Bhavini Patel.

Summer Lee of Swissvale, Pennsylvania's first Black woman elected to Congress, says she's used to tough election fights.

"I've never not been challenged so, no, I'm not surprised at all. And you know what, when I first came into the state House, six years ago, I challenged an incumbent," Lee said. 

Lee, who has been in Congress for 15 months, faces a challenge from Edgewood Councilwoman Bhavini Patel who says Lee has abandoned President Biden in favor of an ultra-leftwing agenda that doesn't represent the region.

"I think what we have is somebody who's focused on aligning herself with the fringe extremist elements of the Democratic Party.  The Democratic Party has a responsibility to bring people in, to focus on the issues that matter to working-class communities – good-paying union jobs, gun violence prevention, reproductive justice," Patel said. 

Patel says Lee is so caught up in the agenda represented by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, AOC, and other very progressive congresswoman that she often votes against Democratic bills supported by President Biden and most Democrats.

"Just recently, there was a spending bill, my opponent was one of 22 Democrats who voted no on that. She chose to vote with – she chose not to vote with the majority of Democrats. Even last July, she was the only member of Congress from this region, Democrat, to vote no on raising the debt ceiling. That was a no vote on Medicare, Social Security and SNAP," Patel said. 

Delano: "Do you see yourself as an extremist in the Democratic Party?"

Lee: "Certainly not. And I think it's really unfortunate that that's the tone, that a Democratic candidate would take, that anyone in our Democratic Party would take. It really comes off as a dog whistle."

"There's room in our party for Joe Manchin, but there's not room in our party for a Black woman who is a progressive?  That strikes me as problematic."

Lee says Democrats did not need her vote to pass the bills Patel cites and that it was important to send a message to marginalized communities.

"Black women and working-class women left that debate knowing that there are people, that the Democratic Party still stands with them and we can keep the government open and that we can still fight for them," Lee said. 

But Patel said, "What we have right now is someone who consistently votes in the minority, aligns herself with the fringe and extreme elements in the Democratic Party, and I think people are hungry for someone who can be a more mainstream voice."