NY-14: Two years after upset win, AOC faces a well-funded primary challenge at home

[RandySF]

Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez picked up a primary challenge in February from former CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, and their June contest is already shaping up to be a very expensive and high-profile fight.

Caruso-Cabrera’s campaign announced this week that she’d raised $1 million during her first 47 days in the race and said that she had $800,000 to spend at the end of March. The well-funded U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which mostly backs Republicans, also announced that it would support Caruso-Cabrera’s campaign against AOC. Ocasio-Cortez has not yet unveiled her first quarter numbers, but she ended 2019 with $2.9 million in the bank.

Caruso-Cabrera has argued, “The national and local messages are clear: I will unite. AOC’s reign of division will end.” However, there’s no data yet to indicate if AOC’s national prominence and progressive stances have alienated enough voters in this Bronx and Queens district to make her vulnerable to a primary challenge.

Caruso-Cabrera herself could also have a difficult time appealing to Democratic voters in this safely blue seat. The challenger wrote a 2010 book titled, “You Know I'm Right: More Prosperity, Less Government” where she expressed her admiration for Ronald Reagan. (The book contained a forward by Larry Kudlow, who is now Trump’s economic adviser.) Caruso-Cabrera’s ties to big business groups like the Chamber may help her raise plenty of money, but her allies could also be an effective foil for AOC.


https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/9/1935970/-Two-years-after-upset-win-AOC-faces-a-well-funded-primary-challenge-at-home

[chillfactor]

1. unlike many DUers here....

I have never been a supporter of AOC...too mouthy, too radical, too disruptive. Not sure Caruso-Cabera is the right person to oppose AOC but at this point I would rather see someone else hold that seat other than AOC

[Skittles]

2. too MOUTHY?

I see you have not changed a bit

[Maraya1969]

20. Can you imagine someone saying that about a man? Oh, he's too mouthy

Fuck.

[SheltieLover]

27. 😱 How dare you even think it? 😏

+1!

[Skittles]

28. certianly it is a sentiment commonly expressed by republicans

yup

[Squinch]

30. I bet she's shrill, too.

[RB TexLa]

5. I'm in alignment with you. It's not going to be a conservative or even moderate Democrat

to win a primary in her district. She could only lose to a well funded liberal who really worked for it.

I'm not her biggest fan, but don't I don't have strong dislike for her. She's smart, I'm sure her constituent service is top notch. In close races (which I don't think this one will be, but there could be one down the road) it can come down to how many social security and SBA issues you've resolved for your people.

[stopdiggin]

8. another DU denizen that is somewhat ambivalent

toward AOC. And my reaction is 180 from yours. THIS challenge would seem to be coming from a R in sheep's clothing .. and I wouldn't trust it for a second. (and I'd bet the constituents see it the same way) This choice here would have to clearly go in the incumbent's direction.

[Squinch]

31. This. And I'm no fan either.

[HarlanPepper]

15. I've found her to be slightly less irritating lately

But let’s be honest, if we’re ranking stars in that class based on performance, it’s Katie Porter at the top and it’s not close.

[BComplex]

16. I absolutely adore AOC, and I'll send all kinds of money to help her fight a rightwinger

any day of the week.

[Quixote1818]

18. Me too! nt

[Locrian]

29. lemme guess - boomer? - n/t

[TeamPooka]

3. Fuck that Fake Democrat. Reagan lovers can suck it.

[Vivienne235729]

4. I like AOC. I think she is FANTASTIC for the Democratic Party. She balances out

all the moderate dems and I appreciate that. She's also young, smart, is a wonderful voice for her constituents, and can go do verbal battle w anyone. She is fearless and I think we need more of her. I will look at donating to her campaign.

[RandySF]

6. I hear that she's MIA in her district.

[Vivienne235729]

10. I haven't heard that. I see she is extremely popular in her district but

did lose some people w the Amazon deal. I think her "problem" is that she is a woman and she is outspoken and people have a hard time w that. How much did the Amazon deal hurt her will be seen. I dont live in her district or even her state, but if I did I would certainly vote for her.

[Hekate]

9. Didn't she kind of go on a tour as a protege of Bernie's? It means she was not in Congress...

...and most of all not in her home district.

AOC is smart and talented, but every Congressional Representative has to answer to her/his district, and they have to do so every 2 years, not 6 years like Senators.

I'd hate to see her talent and energy go to waste, but she took an awful lot of time off to campagn for Bernie, and it may be coming back to bite her in the butt.

[Vivienne235729]

11. You might be right that it could bite her in the butt. I think she'll be ok, though.

If anything, I think the Amazon deal will be what bites her in the butt. I could've sworn I read that somewhere. It has been awhile and I don't remember exactly.

[msongs]

7. opponent looks like a republican plant. at least aoc is entertaining and reasonable nt

[brush]

12. AOC has been disappointing to me. She does seem to be learning though with her distancing...

herself from Sanders and the Rogan endorsement. Now if she can just stop trying to primary other Dem incumbents.

She won't have a problem beating the fake Dem running against her though.

[stopdiggin]

13. not sure if entertaining is a strong qualification

but I will say that AOC balances it out somewhat by being extremely sharp and well versed (unlike some other populist figures we're aware of)

and agree 100% about the republican plant.

[murielm99]

14. I am not an AOC fan.

She neglects her district. She supported Bernie, another politician I dislike.

This person does not look like the right candidate to unseat AOC. That is a shame.

[marble falls]

17. I love AOC. She suported Bernie and thats her right. Everything I hear from friends ...

in NYC says she's strong enough to keep her seat with no problems. Everything I've seen from her on the news shows me a young smart effective member of Congress. She's the future and old white males, like me have gotten us to where we're at. We screwed it up, let her generation get a crack at fixing it up.

I didn't agree with with her ardor towards Bernie's campaign (I think he was a distraction this time around), but I sure do get a lot of her other efforts. She may not be batting 1.00 but she's doing a lot better than .500.

I'm glad she's got the energy to fight for us, and as she learns to use her efforts more effectively she will make a fine leader.

We dinosaurs have to loosen the reins. The party needs to be more progressive. And tolerant.

[The Magistrate]

19. Pretty Rank Challenger, Sir

It would be best if Rep. Ocasio-Cortez retained the the ballot line.

[sheshe2]

22. She actually has 13 challengers.

8 Republicans and 5 Democrats.

It is a solid Blue seat and the true Democrat will either hold her seat or another Democrat will gain it. One way or another it is pretty blue there.

Never a guarantee, yet pretty solid.

[The Magistrate]

24. Crowded Fields Are Nice For People Whose Names Are Known, Ma'am

Compared to the challenger boomed above Rep. Ocasio-Cortez is a better Democrat, certainly, but I have never liked the 'true Democrat' usage, myself. A retty wide range of people qualify as good Democrats, in my view.

[sheshe2]

21. actually...

AOC faces 13 challengers –

Eight Republicans and five Democrats are vying to take on AOC

[Maven]

25. Caruso-Cabrera sounds like a Trojan horse. nt

[aeromanKC]

26. Too bad Joe Crowley isn't running

I'd vote for Joe!! Joe Crowley is a good man and a good Democrat!!!