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A Trump-Friendly, Anti-AOC Democrat Is Poised to Win a New York House Seat
NewsweekNew York's 15th congressional district, with Yankee Stadium at its heart, is home to some of the country's poorest and most diverse people, an Obama oasis bordering AOC's neighborhood—and yet it is on the verge of electing a Trump-loving Democrat for its open seat in the House.
That Democrat is Reverend Ruben Diaz Sr., a flamboyant, cowboy hat-wearing New York City councilman who immediately distinguished his views when he announced his run in 2019, saying "I am the opposite of AOC in the South Bronx."
And that has national Democrats, opponents and progressives like Planned Parenthood and LGBT groups in a panic because the 77-year-old minister has a history of making inflammatory statements about homosexuals and strongly opposes abortion because of his religious beliefs.
"He would instantly become Donald Trump's favorite New York congressman," strategist Eric Koch of anti-Diaz super PAC Bronx United told Newsweek, adding that Diaz Sr. would be an unreliable Democratic vote in the House caucus.
To complicate matters, he has a son, Ruben Diaz Jr., who is his namesake and a Bronx borough president many call the most popular politician in the borough. Diaz Jr. is regularly asked to comment on his father's actions, as he did disapprovingly when Diaz Sr. invited Senator Ted Cruz to visit the Bronx, but the consensus is that his son is a political plus for the reverend.
The 15th district is the poorest and most diverse district in the country—more than 97 percent of its residents are minorities and the median household income was estimated to be $28,042 in 2017. It is also comfortably Democrat. Barack Obama took nearly 97 percent of the vote there in 2012. It borders the district Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez represents.
That Democrat is Reverend Ruben Diaz Sr., a flamboyant, cowboy hat-wearing New York City councilman who immediately distinguished his views when he announced his run in 2019, saying "I am the opposite of AOC in the South Bronx."
And that has national Democrats, opponents and progressives like Planned Parenthood and LGBT groups in a panic because the 77-year-old minister has a history of making inflammatory statements about homosexuals and strongly opposes abortion because of his religious beliefs.
"He would instantly become Donald Trump's favorite New York congressman," strategist Eric Koch of anti-Diaz super PAC Bronx United told Newsweek, adding that Diaz Sr. would be an unreliable Democratic vote in the House caucus.
To complicate matters, he has a son, Ruben Diaz Jr., who is his namesake and a Bronx borough president many call the most popular politician in the borough. Diaz Jr. is regularly asked to comment on his father's actions, as he did disapprovingly when Diaz Sr. invited Senator Ted Cruz to visit the Bronx, but the consensus is that his son is a political plus for the reverend.
The 15th district is the poorest and most diverse district in the country—more than 97 percent of its residents are minorities and the median household income was estimated to be $28,042 in 2017. It is also comfortably Democrat. Barack Obama took nearly 97 percent of the vote there in 2012. It borders the district Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez represents.
New York City is extremely Democratic but not extremely liberal. It's happy to elect political hacks like Diaz (or Yvette Clarke in Brooklyn) and keep re-electing them indefinitely.
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That always works so well when done from the hermitage. 
