OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is not happy after another one of her endorsed socialist candidates lost their election.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the head of the House Democrats’ campaign fundraising arm, handily defeated progressive Alessandra Biaggi in the New York primary for the 17th Congressional District.
Maloney secured over 60% of the vote compared to roughly 31% for Biaggi.
The contest pitted Maloney, an establishment Democrat tied to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, against Biaggi, a progressive leftist backed by Ocasio-Cortez and the Working Families Party.
Biaggi came under fire on July 5 when she tweeted: “At the risk of sounding ageist, it’s still important to ask: when a majority of Congress is past child-bearing age, how fierce can we expect their fight to be?”
She alienated older, female Democratic leaders in the district who denounced her comments and backed Maloney.
For us, this race was simple:
@Biaggi4NY didn't just call cops "soulless." She led the charge in Albany to make our job more difficult & dangerous. We made it a priority to stop her from doing it in DC.
Now she can’t. And she's done in Albany, too. 1/3https://t.co/9WhLeN80pg— NYC PBA (@NYCPBA) August 24, 2022
In a fundraising email to supporters in June, Ocasio-Cortez touted Biaggi as a progressive champion and endorsed her campaign.
“She’s running against a well-funded opponent, Sean Patrick Maloney, who also happens to be the chairman of the (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee),” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “Alessandra has been here before — she knows what it takes to go up against powerful opponents and win.”
Another far-left, AOC-backed candidate went down in flames recently and she was not happy about it.
Ocasio-Cortez sounded off publicly on leaders of her own party after left-wing immigration attorney Jessica Cisneros failed to defeat Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar in a heated Democratic primary.
Cuellar, a nine-term incumbent, defeated Cisneros in Texas’ 28th District.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Whip James Clyburn, and other top Democrats supported Cuellar’s campaign through robocalls and in-person events, while Ocasio-Cortez and Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed Cisneros.“Accountability isn’t partisan. This was an utter failure of leadership,” Ocasio-Cortez complained of leadership’s support for Cuellar.
“Congress should not be an incumbent protection racket and sadly it is treated as such by far too many. The fact is those who fail their communities deserve to lose. They don’t need rescuing from powerful leaders who state they fight for gun safety, the right to choose, and more,” she continued.
TX28 is an extremely close race. If Cuellar wins, leadership’s decision to go to the mat for a pro-NRA incumbent will be the reason why. If Cisneros pulls it out, they will have mobilized against a badly needed grassroots for Nov & fought against a historic victory. And for what?
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 25, 2022
Henry Cuellar, the only House Democrat who voted against his party’s federal abortion bill, appears to have survived a primary challenge from the left. https://t.co/4ijE9mDm9t
— National Review (@NRO) May 26, 2022
Another closely-watched election ended on Tuesday night with Rep. Jerry Nadler defeating Rep. Carolyn Maloney in a Democratic primary after a court forced the two longtime lawmakers into the same New York City congressional district.
Nadler’s victory ends a 30-year run in Congress for Maloney.
In his victory speech, Nadler said he and Maloney “have spent much of our adult lives working together to better both New York and our nation. I speak for everyone in this room tonight when I thank her for her decades of service to our city.”
He pledged he would go back to Congress “with a mandate to fight for the causes so many of us know to be right,” including abortion access and climate change.
Maloney, however, has served in Congress since 1992.
Soon after her loss, she immediately reverted to a slew of liberal talking points.
“I’m really saddened that we no longer have a woman representing Manhattan in Congress,” Maloney added. “It has been a great, great honor and a joy and a privilege to work for you.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Maloney “a champion for integrity” in a statement on the race and said, “her longtime public service will be profoundly missed in the Congress.”
Pelosi also congratulated Nadler, saying he “has been a commanding force for freedom and justice” and that the country would “greatly benefit from his continued leadership.”
In declaring victory Tuesday night, Nadler reflected on the ordeal of being thrown into a new district decades into his congressional tenure.
“It might have been so much easier to move away from this community and represent a different part of the city,” he said. “I have lived here for my entire adult life. I love the people of this community and what they represent. Why would I want to be any place else?”
“I know how overwhelming these challenges can feel,” Nadler said. “I know that when confronted with fights as massive as those that [come] before us, it can feel impossible to do anything but surrender. But here is the thing — I’m a New Yorker. … We New Yorkers just don’t know how to surrender.”
