Politics

Democratic Socialist beats long-time Dem House incumbent in New York primary

On Tuesday, the New York Post reported that Democrat Rep. Joe Crowley was beaten in his primary by Democratic Socialist and liberal activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a newcomer to politics.  The Post further said it was the first primary challenge Crowley has seen in 14 years.

According to the Post:

Ocasio-Cortez, who identifies as a Democratic socialist, led Crowley by 15 percent — 57 percent to his 42 percent — with 78 percent of the 14th Congressional District’s precincts reporting.

Both the Associated Press and New York 1 project that Ocasio-Cortez has an insurmountable lead.

Crowley’s defeat is a political earthquake in New York City politics where political machines dominate low-turnout elections and incumbents often go unchallenged.

Crowley, the Post added, “had been considered a contender to take over leadership from Rep. Nancy Pelosi…”

How far-left is Ocasio-Cortez?  The Washington Post‘s Jeff Stein tweeted a flyer with her policy positions:

Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?

https://twitter.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1011786860107059201

The Daily Wire further noted:

Ocasio-Cortez’s positions reflect her hard-left socialist leanings; she favors Medicare for All as well as abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As Buzzfeed reports, “She’s backed by the Democratic Socialists of America and by Our Revolution, the group backed by Bernie Sanders. She spent the last weekend of the campaign in Texas, protesting President Donald Trump’s border policy.” Ocasio-Cortez is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Ocasio-Cortez had told BuzzFeed, “When it comes to power, we can’t just be tempted by power and money alone. What we need to do is be bold enough and courageous enough to choose leadership that takes no corporate money and advances health care, education, and housing for all.”

She also tweeted this about Israel defending itself:

And here she is calling for the abolition of ICE:

Shortly before the primary, she traveled to McAllen, Texas, to protest Trump’s immigration policies:

Donald Trump weighed in, saying that Crowley should have been nicer to him:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1011795883925663744

Breitbart’s Joel Pollack observed:

Ocasio-Cortez enjoyed the support of left-wing celebrities like Susan Sarandon, who hails from the area. Her campaign ads were sharp, innovative, and eye-catching. And she drew on widespread grassroots frustration with the Democratic Party establishment.

The left may have found a new standard-bearer — and Republicans may have found a new target.

By the way, the Democratic Socialists are the same bunch who attacked and harassed DHS head Kirstien Nielsen

Ocasio-Cortez now faces Republican economics professor Anthony Pappas in the general election.

Related:

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Joe Newby

A 10-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Joe ran for a city council position in Riverside, Calif., in 1991 and managed successful campaigns for the Idaho state legislature. Co-author of "Banned: How Facebook enables militant Islamic jihad," Joe wrote for Examiner.com from 2010 until it closed in 2016 and his work has been published at Newsbusters, Spokane Faith and Values and other sites. He now runs the Conservative Firing Line.

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