JTA — An outspoken pro-Palestinian progressive, William Lawrence, bested two establishment-backed picks in a Democratic House primary for a battleground district in Michigan on Tuesday.

Lawrence is a co-founder of the climate advocacy group Sunrise Movement, which has also become a harsh critic of Israel. He campaigned with Michigan’s anti-Israel Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who won his own tight primary race against a pro-Israel moderate.

Lawrence took the Democratic nomination in the state’s 7th District, with The Associated Press calling the race for him Tuesday night. Lawrence had 43.7% of the vote with 92% of votes counted on Wednesday morning.

His opponents, Bridget Brink, a former US ambassador to Ukraine, and former Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam, two centrist candidates with military and foreign policy backgrounds, effectively split the establishment vote and opened a lane for the progressive.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the movement we’ve built in mid-Michigan,” Lawrence wrote on social media after the race was called. “We’re building a movement made up of real Michiganders across political divides, not DC consultants.”

Another House candidate backed by El-Sayed, state Rep. Donavan McKinney, also won his race against incumbent Shri Thanedar in Michigan’s 13th........

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