New polling shows Summer Lee has low approval rating
Lee will be facing Bhavini Patel in the Democratic primary.
Rep. Summer Lee, who represents Squirrel Hill, may be vulnerable to a primary challenge, according to new polling, Jewish Insider reported.
The survey, conducted between Oct. 21-23 by Embold Research, showed that Lee’s disapproval rating was 43%. Only 38% of the respondents said they had a favorable view of the freshman congresswoman.
Of the 860 respondents, 57% were Democrats or leaned Democrat.
The poll was commissioned by political activist Madison Campbell, who told Jewish Insider that she found Lee’s numbers “very surprising” and “didn’t expect for them to be that low.”
Campbell is the founder of Survivor PAC, a new political action committee that is focused on rising crime.
“In one section of the poll, which was done to assess voter sentiment on a range of issues and candidates in advance of last Tuesday’s elections in Allegheny County,” Jewish Insider wrote, “more than 80% of voters said that they were concerned about the safety of the local Jewish community in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack.”
Lee will be challenged in the Democratic primary this spring by Bhavini Patel, an Edgewood Borough councilwoman, who has been critical of Lee’s lack of support for Israel and for her Jewish constituents.
Lee was one of only 10 representatives to vote against a House resolution condemning Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel and voted against a resolution condemning antisemitism and support for terrorist organizations on college campuses.
Patel raised $201,000 in one month, according to her campaign, with 75% of the donations coming from Western Pennsylvania and 99.2% coming from individuals, not PACs.
Lee raised a total of $175,000 last quarter, according to Jewish Insider. PJC
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