Cynthia Nixon to endorse Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Progressive women to cross-endorse each other
Move comes as corporatist Democratic women still turn their backs on progressives
New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon is set to endorse Bronx-native and progressive Latina Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress one day before the Democratic Party primary election for New York’s Fourteenth Congressional District.
“Alexandria’s running an inspiring, insurgent, progressive campaign powered by the people,” said gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, adding that, “She represents the future of the Democratic Party.”
— The New York Daily NewsVote 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.
A Campaign in Crisis : Debate No-Show, Immigration Hypocrisy, and an Avalanche of Criticism
Joe Crowley’s campaign is in crisis
Life comes at you fast.
A month ago, U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (Establishment-NY) was looking untouchable, but, within a few, short weeks, his campaign started to unravel, leaving many in the media to speculate whether they were witnessing the beginning of the end for one of the most powerful politicians in New York City.
Crowley’s race insensitivities
About two weeks ago, things began to change for Crowley. The Intercept published an article that took issue with how Crowley both brags about his Irish heritage and faults his primary challenger, A
lexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for discussing her Puerto Rican background. Remarks attributed to Crowley in the article included that, “I can’t help that I was born White,” and that it appeared to be, in manifest terms, his destiny to be a U.S. Representative and to challenge President Donald Trump (R). The Intercept reporter reminded many that Crowley had hired a lobbyist in order to attempt to kick a Latino section of the Bronx out of his Congressional District. After Crowley was a no-show at a bilingual debate, he lost the endorsement of a Queens Democratic Party political club. Next, U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) clawed back his sole endorsement for Crowley and “co-endorsed” Ocasio-Cortez. Criticism of the debate no-show and of the change in Khanna’s endorsement opened the floodgates of criticism.
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.
Crowley made criminal justice in Queens about race long before he complained about the ethnicity of his primary challenger
Crowley confuses ethnicity and race with power and privilege
Today, the Intercept reported that Joseph Crowley (Establishment-NY) complained at a recent political event that his Democratic Party primary challenger, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, was focusing her campaign too much on issues of ethnicity or race, remarking, according to the report, that these types of issues were “unnecessarily divisive.”
At many of Crowley’s political events, he loves to brag about his Irish background. Yet, he feels it is fair to deny Ocasio-Cortez any opportunity to speak about her heritage and background, seemingly solely because she is Hispanic.
Having all the power of being the Queens party boss is not enough for Crowley. He wants to use the privilege he has as a White male in power to snuff out his opponent by stoking fears about ethnicity or race to his largely White audiences, as his recent political event was described.
Long before Ocasio-Cortez ever decided to challenge Crowley in a Congressional primary this year, though, Crowley made issues of race central to how Queens was going to be governed. One need not look too far to see how Crowley has used race and White privilege in Queens to further his own ideas about what is fair about who holds elected office.
Before Crowley inherited his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Richard Brown (Establishment-NY) was first appointed and then reëlected, uninterruptedly, as the District Attorney for Queens County. Now an octogenarian, Brown has said he has no plans for retiring. Though he holds elected office, Brown acts as if being the District Attorney is a job he gets to decide how long he keeps. Like Crowley, Brown acts as if he is entitled to his elected post. The major problem caused to Queens County voters is that Brown is resisting criminal justice reform, as called for by Ocasio-Cortez. Brown wants to keep arresting his way through the opioid crisis, even though Whites are shown to mainly be turning to dangerous synthetic painkillers as lifestyle drugs. Because Brown also resists speedy calls for legalizing marijuana or decriminalizing other crimes that disproportionately affect minority communities, criminal justice in Queens is prosecuted with race-based overtones, notably Broken Windows policing.
Prelude to the Biggest Upset of 2018: A Look Back at Elizabeth Crowley’s Devastating Loss in Queens
Elizabeth Crowley lost — because the voters are tired of the Queens Machine
The Winds of Change
Many of those following national politics might be be unaware of a devastating development that occurred in Queens County back in the fall of 2017, and which foreshadows a potential upset in the upcoming contest for New York’s 14th congressional district. Congressman Joseph Crowley‘s cousin, Elizabeth Crowley, was running as an incumbent in a City Council election against the relatively unknown centrist Robert Holden, who she defeated in the Democratic Party primary — only to eventually lose to him in the General Election by 137 votes. Elizabeth Crowley, who raised 10 times the amount of Holden, and who had the backing of Gov. Andrew Cuomo (Establishment-NY) and the Queens Machine, should have crushed Holden in the General. When the votes were totaled and recounted, however, Holden squeaked by — pulling off an upset that many had thought was impossible.
Part of a Larger Pattern
Elizabeth Crowley is not the only neoliberal Democrat the People have grown tired of. One might recall Christine Quinn‘s epic loss to Bill de Blasio in the 2013 mayoral race. Quinn’s loss showed that the political left in America’s biggest city was ready to challenge the corporatist, big money Democrats. Several years later, Democrats ignored that lesson when Hillary Clinton noteworthy downfall demonstrated that the Democratic base was no longer inspired by big money politics.
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.
