AOC cruises to renomination uncontested after other ‘Squad’ members faced primaries
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) easily won renomination to Congress on Tuesday in an uncontested Democratic primary after some other progressive lawmakers faced primary challengers in other districts.
ANTI-ABORTION DEMOCRAT TRIES TO FLIP NORTH DAKOTA’S ONLY HOUSE SEAT
Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most progressive lawmakers in the House and no stranger to controversy, represents New York’s 14th Congressional District. Her uncontested primary was a rubber stamp from her deep blue district for her third bid.
Although she was uncontested, Ocasio-Cortez has been a proponent of primary elections, criticizing a system in New York that she has said leaves too many races uncontested.
TODAY is now the first day of a 4-day petition submission period, where we hand over signatures to NY’s board of election.
This is usually the stage where grassroots candidates get bumped off the ballot, and THAT’s how so many elections in NY go uncontested. /3
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 9, 2018
It’s common practice for the Queens machine to bump candidates off the ballot by challenging their petition signatures in court.
This is one reason why so many of our elections go uncontested. You can learn about the practice in this piece by WNYC: https://t.co/Xy4IiHVJPm
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 23, 2018
Ocasio-Cortez’s path to renomination was smoother than other House Democrats this cycle, including fellow members of the so-called “Squad” of progressives.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was narrowly renominated in Minnesota’s 5th District earlier this month following a primary challenge from a centrist Democrat who criticized her for advocating a measure to defund the police in Minneapolis. The narrow margin of victory could embolden other potential primary challengers to Omar in the safe blue district, some Minnesota political analysts told the Washington Examiner this month.
Fellow Squad member Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) also faced a primary challenge from a more moderate Democrat, state Sen. Steve Roberts, but won renomination by a much wider margin than Omar and is expected to be reelected to Congress in the heavily Democratic St. Louis-area 1st Congressional District.
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Ocasio-Cortez’s fellow New York Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones faces a steeper path to renomination Tuesday after the Empire State’s messy redistricting process.
Jones, who currently represents New York’s 17th District, chose to seek reelection in the new 10th District rather than face a member vs. member primary against Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY), chairman of House Democrats’ campaign arm, in his current district or against ally Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) in another nearby district.
Jones trailed rival Daniel Goldman, who served as Democrats’ lead counsel during then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment proceedings, with 90% of the vote counted Tuesday night. The 10th District race was not yet called as of 10:20 p.m.
