Vote in Queens for Ocasio-Cortez for Congress on June 26
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has promised to abolish ICE. She is one of us, and will fight for us in Congress.
Click below to find your polling station.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez offers Queens a chance at true people-centric representation
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is running for Congress to finally give voice and representation to women, minorities, and the people who make Queens so diverse and special.
Ocasio-Cortez is shaping the national conversation around immigration reform by calling for the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). This is an important issue to many Queens residents, because local law enforcement profiles all minorities — regardless of their documentation status. Nobody should have to experience discrimination, and nobody should have their families broken up.
Another important issue facing Queens residents is the restoration of democratic functions to all Government and civic bodies in the borough. For a dozen years, the incumbent Congressmember has also served as chair of the Queens Democratic Party county committee. This dual incumbency creates conflicts of interest and allows the county party chair to dictate the workings, the staffing, and the communication of other Government agencies and many civic groups. For Queens to flourish, and for our diverse residents to increase their civic participation, our local Government and community groups must be autonomous from the dominant political party.
On June 26, you do have a choice
You can vote for the incumbent, who wants to go on serving in office for two decades, who is backed by Wall Street, real estate developers, and pharmaceutical giants.
Or, you can vote for the progressive woman of color, who is foresaking all corporate PAC donations, who is championing issues that all politicians have forgotten : like fighting for jobs guarantee programs to address the wealth and income inequality that is wreaking havoc on New York City, like fighting gentrification and saving and expanding public housing, like fighting for a “Medical For All” healthcare plan to finally treat healthcare as a human right. These are progressive values that should appeal to all of us. It shouldn’t take decades for us to bring about progress to our lives. It only takes political courage.
On June 26, vote for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress.
Proudly brought to you by Blue America PAC. Please consider making a donation to help keep funding progressive candidates by clicking the button below.
Vote in the Bronx for Ocasio-Cortez for Congress on June 26
We have the ability to change the Bronx for the better, and elect someone who will actually fight for us.
Help elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez offers the Bronx a chance at true people-centric representation
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a progressive, young Latina running for Congress to finally give voice and representation to the people of the Bronx. For too long, the incumbent Congressmember has been absent from the Bronx. His absenteeism has been so severe and stark that the Editorial Board of the New York Times had to call him out for his shameful neglect of Bronx voters.
The Ocasio-Cortez campaign is leading the national conversation around immigration reform by calling for the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). This is an important issue for many Bronx residents, because local law enforcement profiles all minorities — regardless of their documentation status. Nobody should have to experience discrimination, and nobody should have their families broken up.
Another issue that is important to Bronx residents, including in the South Bronx, where nearly 60% of residents are Latinx, is the restoration and recovery in Puerto Rico. But we all know that Puerto Rico cannot recover and thrive from the devastation of Hurricane Maria unless the necessary disaster assistance takes the form of grants and loan forgiveness. Puerto Rico’s economy was already being decimated by a Government debt crisis that was made worse by Wall Street speculation. Unfortunately for us, the incumbent Congressmember is backed by Wall Street banks and hedge fund management companies. Because the incumbent Congressmember’s loyalty lies with financiers, he will never be an independent champion for a fair and robust economic recovery like Puerto Rico needs.
For too long, the incumbent Congressmember does not appreciate or consider issues important to our community. He comes from an entitled culture, where power was always given to him. He was effectively installed in Congress through a political slight-of-hand by his predecessor, and he essentially inherited his post as chair of his political party county committee. He neither understands nor relates to the public health and economic emergencies facing Puerto Rico. In fact, several years ago, the incumbent hired a lobbyist to get rid of the Latinx section of the Bronx from his Congressional District. We need a change, and we need you to make it happen.
On June 26, you do have a choice
You can vote for the incumbent, who wants to go on serving in office for two decades, who is backed by Wall Street, real estate developers, and pharmaceutical giants.
Or, you can vote for the progressive woman of color, who is foresaking all corporate PAC donations, who is championing issues that all politicians have forgotten : like fighting for jobs guarantee programs to address the wealth and income inequality that is wreaking havoc on New York City, like fighting gentrification and saving and expanding public housing, like fighting for a “Medical For All” healthcare plan to finally treat healthcare as a human right. These are progressive values that should appeal to all of us. It shouldn’t take decades for us to bring about progress to our lives. It only takes political courage.
On June 26, vote for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress.
Proudly brought to you by Blue America PAC. Please consider making a donation to help keep funding progressive candidates by clicking the button below.
Indypendent : Alexandria vs. Goliath
The political race between a progressive young Latina and the Queens county boss is more than just about winning an election.
It’s about creating a new future and direction for a wayward Democratic Party.
Bronx activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is mounting the first real primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (Establishment-NY) since his first reëlection campaign two decades ago. Could a progressive young Latina actually beat the Queens Democratic Party boss ? Crowley has an enormous war chest filled with Wall Street money. Reportedly, Crowley is so worried that he is burning through about $1 million to stave off defeat in the ballot box. The odds that Ocasio-Cortez faces are long, and there is an aspect to legend-making to the race. As the underdog, Ocasio-Cortez is garnering sympathy, so much so that the Indypendent dubs the race, Alexandria vs. Goliath.
After shaming by NYTimes, Crowley promises to show up for last debate
The Editorial Board had scolded Joe Crowley for having skipped debates, and for having sent a surrogate to do his job.
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (Establishment-NY) was censured by the Editorial Board of the New York Times for having skipped debates against his Democratic Party primary election rival, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and for having once sent a surrogate to a debate in his stead. Ocasio-Cortez is challenging Congressmember Crowley, who also serves as chair of Queens Democratic Party county committee, in the June 26 primary for the 14th New York Congressional District that he’s represented for nearly two decades now. In the lead-up to the publication of the editorial, the normally entitled and image-conscious Hon. Crowley was being shamed all over the Twitter social media network by an emboldened legion of critics, who have, for the first time in decades, found allies in the form of his rival’s supporters to give voice to a festering, high-grade disappointment in the incumbent Congressmember. Due to a culture of retaliation that permeates Queens County politics, given the tight control with which U.S. Rep. Crowley administers the Queens political machine that he heads, the dissent and disapproval that have been expressed over Twitter prior to and following the publication of the Times’s editorial was giving rise to something more serious than just a mere rejection of U.S. Rep. Crowley’s neoliberal political record. Finally, the public was talking about how a Congressmember for almost 20 years thought nothing of violating democratic functions of important civic processes. In other words, the Queens County boss was caught acting like your typical, third-rate corrupt party boss.
After such a public shaming, U.S. Rep. Crowley, with his stubby, little tail between his legs, sheepishly let it be known that he would be conditionally attending tonight’s final community debate, in Jackson Heights, Queens.
One will see if U.S. Rep. Crowley keeps his word.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gives an interview to The Young Turks about challenging Queens party boss Joe Crowley
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is interviewed by The Young Turks
Bronx activist Alexandra Ocasio Cortez is running for Congress. She made her case for trying to unseat entrenched Queens party boss Joseph Crowley (Establishment-NY) in a new interview with The Young Turks.
Party bosses like Crowley use corruption to hold onto power. Despite being in the reported cross-hairs of Federal law enforcement, Boss Crowley has almost never been fully called to account for how he misuses his power over the Queens Democratic Party county committee, which he heads.
Until now.
On June 26, vote for Ocasio-Cortez for Congress.
The Young Turks interview
For more information about Ocasio-Cortez, watch this interview that Ocasio-Cortez gave to Katie Halper of The Young Turks.
Benjamin Norton interviews Howie Klein about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez challenging Joseph Crowley for NY’s 14th Congressional District
Heated #NY14 Primary Pits Corrupt Establishment Democrat Joseph Crowley Against Young Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
One of the nation’s most closely-watched primary race is taking place in New York, where Queens party Boss Joseph Crowley (Establishment-NY) is being challenged by democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Crowley is chair of the House Democratic Caucus, and he is fourth in line to the House speakership should the Democrats take back control of the U.S. House of Representatives, however, talk amongst lobbyists is that Crowley will become speaker once Nancy Pelosi (Establishment-CA) is forced to give up the leadership post.
Howie Klein, who heads Blue America PAC, says in this interview that Crowley is “the most corrupt Democrat in the House.”
As the media have reported, the activities of the Queens political machine that Crowley administers is the subject of law enforcement interest.
Fire Boss Crowley
#FireTheBoss #FireBossCrowley
Joseph Crowley (Establishment-NY) is a party boss, who is unaccountable to the people.
Voters have to #FireTheBoss, #FireBossCrowley !
For 20 years, Crowley has been in Congress. For 12 years, he has been chair of the Queens Democratic Party county committee.
In all this time, Crowley has held enormous power and influence over New York City politics. He has authority to determine who gets to run for public office in Queens. He exerts power to select the speaker of the New York City Council. He doles out patronage jobs in key City institutions, such as in the City Council, the City Board of Elections, and Queens Borough Hall.
The Queens Machine
The Queens County Committee chairs always become corrupt
Joe Crowley did not petition to get on his first Congressional ballot, and he inherited the post of chair of Queens Democrats
Crowley was a career incumbent New York State Assemblymember (think “Albany“) when U.S. Rep. Thomas Manton decided, in 1998, to retire from the U.S. Congress. In order to facilitate an undemocratic transfer of power between political insiders, U.S. Rep. Manton waited until after the deadline had passed for individuals to register to run for that year’s Democratic Party primary for Manton’s Congressional seat. Because Manton was Queens Democratic Party committee chair, he basically “installed” Crowley in his stead as the beneficiary of the ballot petitions collected by his campaign committee. Because Crowley ran unopposed, he was guaranteed to win that year’s Democratic Party primary and, in a City with a supermajority of Democrats, that is how Crowley went to Washington to represent Queens and the Bronx.
Eight years later, in 2006, Manton died, and U.S. Rep. Crowely had already consolidated power amongst Queens Democrats. Within a day of Manton’s death, the New York Times was already speculating that Crowley would inherit the leadership of Queens Democrats, even if Crowley was being bashful about it. The establishment wing of the Democratic Party believes that power and leadership should pass down from one neoliberal leader to another. In other words, power and leadership posts are not won by elections where the people have a say. Rather, gatekeepers, such as Manton, much like superdelegates, ensure that party élites don’t have to run “against grassroots activists.”
A brief, recent history of the corruption of the Queens Machine, and of other County Committee chairs
In the twenty years that Crowley has now been in the U.S. Congress and in the twelve years he has been chair of Queens Democrats, he has ascended to become chair of the House Democratic Conference. Word amongst lobbyists is that Crowley is within reach of becoming Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives should the establishment Democrats take back control of the House.
As voters go to the polls on June 26 for the Democratic Party primary and as Democrats actually consider Crowley for House Speaker, let’s look back at how Queens Democratic Party leaders have used their power.
1980’s
Donald Manes was the long-time chair of the Queens Democratic Party county committee when a slow-moving corruption scandal caught up with him. A controversy at the New York City Parking Violations Bureau revealed that Manes was receiving kickbacks. The granting of cable television franchise licenses also came to be under investigation. Essentially, the making of political appointments and the granting of official acts had been turned into a money-making operation. When the press began tracing figures in the corruption investigation back to Manes, Manes sensed that the jig was up. He had already made one suicide attempt and had resigned the Queens Borough Presidency and the Queens Democratic Party county committee leadership post before finally taking his life in 1986. After the dust settled over Manes’ suicide, Manton was selected as the new chair of the Queens Democrats.
In Brooklyn, the county chair, Meade Esposito, was eventually found guilty of corruption.
1990’s
Under Manton, the Queens Democratic Party county committee remained a powerful political machine. The county committee was able to parlay electoral endorsement as a pretext to provide assistance to preferred candidates. It was also able to mount legal proceedings to disregard the ballot petitions of insurgent political challengers as a way to protect the safe election or reëlection of party insiders, according to a curosry look-back at Manton’s time as county chair published by the New York Times.
When Manton was ready to retire, he engineered his replacement in the House with Crowley, angering some Queens Democrats, who still naively believed that political party primaries were the vehicle that should determine office-holders, not insider transfers of power.
2000’s
Before his death, one of Manton’s most important installations of power was the selection of Christine Quinn as speaker of the New York City Council. A political protégé of Wall Street billionaire Michael Bloomberg, Quinn controlled the votes on the New York City Council legislation by using a slush fund as the source of discretionary funding for Councilmembers and the extension of term limits to keep incumbents, like Mayor Bloomberg, in office. Before the decade was out, Crowley kept Quinn as Council speaker, despite her neoliberalism and her undemocratic exertion of power over her fellow Councilmembers.
Some of the preffered officials being supported by the county committee in that time of Manton’s death included then New York State Assemblymember José Peralta.
In Brooklyn, the county chair, Clarence Norman, was convicted of corruption charges.
The Queens party boss remains in charge, until he is dethroned
Reports have been published that the activities of the Queens Democratic Party county committee have once again attracted the attention of anti-corruption investigators. In 2018, voters will have to decide if a change in the leadership of Queens Democrats must follow tradition — at the hands of Federal authorities, or in a primary election.
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