OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has won re-election in the 14th District in New York after defeating Republican Tina Forte on Tuesday night.
“Thank you to every member of our community and every grassroots supporter for entrusting me with the great responsibility of representing NY-14 in Congress. We do this with small dollars, every time. I remain grateful to all of you who make a new kind of governance possible,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted after the race was called.
Several reports have suggested that Ocasio-Cortez could be one of the Democratic Party’s potential 2024 presidential candidates, but she has not commented directly on whether she would run.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat, has won re-election in the 14th District in New York. https://t.co/wm7zXUHPiN pic.twitter.com/tz6ZKAdyzU
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 9, 2022
Ocasio-Cortez made headlines last when she accused her party of never making an effort to win over Hispanic voters.
During an appearance on the far-left “Pod Save America” podcast, Ocasio-Cortez addressed why she thinks some Democratic voters are leaving the party.
“I can at least say with Latino voters, we’ve never tried as a party. The Democratic Party has not tried in terms of Latino electorates. We really need to step up both in our efforts on the campaign, but also in our efforts in governance,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
AOC also slammed President Joe Biden for excluding undocumented immigrants from the blanket pardon he issued last month for people convicted of marijuana possession at a federal level.
“And even recently with President Biden’s marijuana executive order, I very much applaud that he went there, but he exempted people who were convicted if they were convicted while they were undocumented,” said Ocasio-Cortez. “We’re looking at the overwhelming majority of people who have been convicted that would have benefited from that pardon have status, they have status complications.”
Ocasio-Cortez also said Democrats often fail to deliver a clear message to counter a unified Republican Party.
“It’s tough because on the other side they have no qualms. They have no qualms about having an anti-immigrant message. But I think we get scared of that and that segmentation prevents a clear message and that lack of clarity makes it hard to win people over,” Ocasio-Cortez declared.
Below is a transcript of the exchange, via Grabien:
Ocasio-Cortez: “There’s — there has to be a reining in of what’s happening here, and I think that the sensing of that conflict is part of the complications that we’re seeing in some of this working class support. I also think there is a conversation to be had about men and male identity. Because when we look into this, this — I mean, it’s not like, Oh, we’re shedding Latino voters or we’re shedding — we’re shedding men.”
UNKNOWN: “Yeah. Young men, too.”
Ocasio-Cortez: “Men. And it’s not — it is important that we don’t paint this with a broad brush because when we look into this, that is what’s going to help us inform a strategy. And I can at least say with Latino voters, we never tried as a party. The Democratic Party has not tried in terms of Latino electorates. And I mean, where’s our DREAM Act? Where is our immigration reform? And, even recently with President Biden’s marijuana executive order, I very much applaud that he went there, but he exempted people who were convicted — if they were convicted while they were undocumented. And that is 90 percent. We’re looking at the overwhelming majority of people who have been convicted that would benefit from that pardon, have status — like, they have status complications. And so, we really need to step up, both in our efforts on campaigning but also our efforts in governance. And I see these conversations and it’s tough, because on the other side they don’t — they have no qualms. They don’t — they have no qualms about having an anti-immigrant message. But I think we get scared of that and that segmentation prevents a clear message and it — that lack of clarity makes it hard to win people over.”
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