AOC gets ANOTHER primary challenger as a former TV anchor becomes the latest to try to unseat the ‘squad’ leader from her ultra-safe Democratic New York seat
- Former CNBC TV anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera has launched a primary challenge against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
- Ocasio-Cortez won New York’s 14th congressional district in 2018 after pulling out an upset against incumbent Democrat Joe Crowley
- She is also already facing three other Democratic primary challengers
- One is Fernando Cabrera, who already represents the 14th District in the New York City Council, and he claims he would be more moderate
- Ocasio-Cortez is one of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ best-known campaign surrogates on the 2020 trail
Former CNBC TV anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera (pictured) has launched a primary challenge against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
A Democrat has registered to challenge Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for her House seat as she goes up for reelection this year – the fifth challenger to the socialist Congressional star.
Michelle Caruso-Cabrera worked as the chief international correspondent for CNBC for eight years, and still worked for the network as a contributor until her surprise announcement Tuesday morning.
She is now seeking to best Ocasio-Cortez in New York’s 14’th congressional district primary elections.
Caruso-Cabrera, 53, filed the paperwork to launch a Democratic primary run on Monday as Ocasio-Cortez, 30, continues to campaign for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
The new candidate, who says she has been registered Democrat for several years, will no longer serve as a CNBC contributor, according to a fellow network reporter. She had been known on air as MCC.
Her status as a Democrat was not immediately visible on public records of her New Jersey and former Manhattan addresses, and is in contrast to her only published book, You Know I’m Right: More Prosperity, Less Government, which advocated fiscal conservatism and social liberalism.
‘I am the daughter and granddaughter of working class Italian and Cuban immigrants,’ she said. ‘I am so lucky to have had such a wonderful career and I want everybody to have the opportunity that I’ve had.’
Her target, Ocasio-Cortez, pulled out an upset in the 2018 primary, when she defeated ten-term incumbent Joe Crowley, who was once thought to be a possible successor to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
At the time she was 28 and she won with 57 per cent of the vote for the district that encompasses parts of New York City’s boroughs of Queens and The Bronx.
She easily went on to win the general election in the deep-blue district and remains extremely popular in her home state and has garnered progressive support from across the country – soon becoming one of the most-known members of Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez won New York’s 14th congressional district in 2018 after pulling out an upset against incumbent Democrat Joe Crowley
Ocasio-Cortez is also facing three other Democratic primary challengers. Two are pictured here: Fernando Cabrera (left), who already represents the 14th District in the New York City Council, and Jose Velazquez (right)
Before running for office herself, Ocasio-Cortez was an organizer for Sanders’ 2016 primary campaign against Hillary Clinton.
She is now a top surrogate for Sanders on the 2020 campaign trail and has brought along with her some fellow ‘squad’ members, which include freshmen Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib.
Caruso-Cabrera is not the only Democrat looking to unseat Ocasio-Cortez.
There are four other candidates who feel they could better represent the diversity of New York’s 14th district.
Moderate Democrat Fernando Cabrera already represents the 14th District in the New York City Council and in October announced his primary challenge.
He has been critical of Ocasio-Cortez, claiming her far-left ideas like the Green New Deal and universal healthcare has further divided and damaged the Democratic Party.
Ocasio-Cortez is one of Bernie Sanders’ best-known surrogates on the campaign trail
He asserted that it would take a Democrat to be able to beat her and bashed her Democratic socialist perspectives.
‘Only a Democrat is going to be able to defeat her, and it’s going to be a moderate Democrat,’ he said in an interview back in October. ‘She’s a no-show in the district. She hasn’t brought about anything except division within the party.’
‘Socialism doesn’t work. I don’t want it for my children, for my grandchildren,’ he added.
Three other lesser-known individuals have also launched Democratic challenges against Ocasio-Cortez: James Dillon, Badrun Khan and Jose Velazquez.
On the Republican side, there are eight candidates vying to win the primary election to take on Ocasio-Cortez.
Queens went 75.4 per cent for Clinton in 2016 and 88.5 per cent in The Bronx voted for Clinton, proving it is highly unlikely that any Republican candidate has a standing chance in the district.