Democrats have become annoyed with the antics of socialist New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In fact they are annoyed enough that they are contemplating a plan to primary her in 2020, The Hill reported.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has infuriated colleagues by aligning with a progressive outside group that’s threatening to primary entrenched Democrats. Now some of those lawmakers are turning the tables on her and are discussing recruiting a primary challenger to run against the social media sensation.
At least one House Democrat has been privately urging members of the New York delegation to recruit a local politician from the Bronx or Queens to challenge Ocasio-Cortez.
“What I have recommended to the New York delegation is that you find her a primary opponent and make her a one-term congressperson,” the Democratic lawmaker, who requested anonymity, told The Hill. “You’ve got numerous council people and state legislators who’ve been waiting 20 years for that seat. I’m sure they can find numerous people who want that seat in that district.”
The New York delegation has eyed Ocasio-Cortez with skepticism ever since last summer when the 29-year-old self-described democratic socialist shocked the political world and defeated then-Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) in what many thought would be a sleepy primary race. Crowley, a Queens powerbroker and affable House Democratic Caucus chairman, had been considered a possible future Speaker.
Many New York and Congressional Black Caucus lawmakers were also furious with Ocasio-Cortez after a recent Politico report stated she and the grass-roots group aligned with her, Justice Democrats, were considering backing a primary challenge to fellow New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, a Black Caucus member and establishment insider who succeeded Crowley as caucus chairman.
Both Ocasio-Cortez and Justice Democrats have denied the report, but the group of insurgent progressives has vowed to target centrist Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and is eyeing other potential 2020 targets.
Could Ocasio Cortez be defeated?
For now, New York Democratic lawmakers are playing nice with Ocasio-Cortez and her 2.6 million Twitter followers and say no one in the Empire State’s delegation is currently contemplating backing a primary challenger against her.
“We are going to see what happens. Generally for me, I’m giving folks the benefit of the doubt, the presumption of innocence. You might say one thing before you get in here, and then after you get to meet folks, you see what happens and how the body works … things are different, so we’ll see what happens,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), whose district includes part of Queens, said in an interview.
“I can only tell you that the times I’ve spoken to her, and at the times she’s been at the New York delegation meetings, she’s been cooperative and wants to be a team player. That’s what she said, so you gotta take her at her word until something changes,” Meeks added.
Jeffries, the No. 4 House Democrat who some say could someday become Speaker, insisted none of his House colleagues have approached him to run a primary challenger against Ocasio-Cortez. In fact, the 48-year-old Jeffries said, delegation members this month lobbied Democratic leadership to grant Ocasio-Cortez’s request that she be appointed to the House Financial Services and the Oversight and Reform committees.
“I don’t think that is something the New York delegation would contemplate. As you can see, we are totally united behind each other. … The New York delegation sticks together,” Jeffries told The Hill. He said Ocasio-Cortez denied the news report that she was backing a challenger to him, “so there was nothing to work through. I haven’t seen a primary candidate emerge, so I assume when she denied it, she was correct that there was nothing to it.”
It would be shocker for the 29-year-old who for some reason thinks she controls the Party.
But it could be what saves the Democrat Party from destroying itself.
The move towards socialism works on the coasts but it is likely to cost them in the other areas of the United States.
If she gets primaried it would send a message to other progressive candidates to watch their step.
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