Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez possibly going too far into the left’s lunatic fringe? One grassroots organization thinks so and intends to leave her in the dirt ahead of the 2024 election in November.
The Working Families Party has traditionally served as a significant secondary ballot line, aiding Democrats in competitive battleground districts. They also mobilize activists to support progressive candidates over moderates in Democratic Party primaries.
Recently, challenges were made against nine Democratic legislative candidates endorsed by the WFP in The Bronx, including Rep. Adriano Espaillat and state Sens. Robert Jackson, Gustavo Rivera, and Jose Serrano. These challenges also extended to Assembly members Karina Reyes and Amanda Septimo and former AOC campaign aide Jonathan Soto.
District leaders like Dion Powell from the Bronx Conservative Party are part of a coordinated effort to counter the WFP’s strategy of promoting left-leaning candidates in the Bronx despite having minimal organization in the borough.
Bronx Conservative Party district leader Dion Powell stated that he is involved in a coordinated effort to stop the Working Families Party’s (WFP) strategy of promoting left-leaning candidates to Bronx voters despite lacking substantial organization in the borough. “They do zero work in our county. They have to go,” Powell remarked.
Despite these challenges, the WFP remains confident that their candidates will appear on the ballot.
When questioned about the petition challenges, WFP spokesman Ravi Mangla responded, “These challenges are a diversion intended to waste everyone’s time, and we are confident that our candidates will appear on the ballot.”
However, AOC is one of the names that won’t be on their ballot.
It’s not the first time the progressives at WFP have blocked her. In 2020, the WFP chose not to support AOC, as she had been removed from their ballot line due to a petition challenge from her Democratic primary opponent, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera. This decision likely arose from disagreements over policy and strategy.
Fast forward to 2024, and AOC is again facing a similar challenge, with a legal petition filed to remove her from the WFP ballot line in the November 5 general election. Critics argue that AOC’s platform isn’t entirely beneficial to working families and that she’s too focused on social experimentation.
The WFP is not without influence. They have backed several progressives, including Elizabeth Warren (MA), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Cori Bush (MO), and the fire-alarm-loving Jamaal Bowman (NY).
If AOC is considered too extreme to be on a ticket for a party that had endorsed these rabid progressives, it might be time for her to cut and run.
