Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has found herself in a prolonged feud with yet another top Democratic Party leader: New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Both politicians are using their endorsements as pawns… and the two are about to clash in New York’s Democratic primary later this month.
During a special election in February, Adams endorsed Nikki Lucas for a vacant seat in the state assembly.
Lucas won the special election. Now she is up for reelection.
The Adams campaign told the New York Post that Adams had endorsed Lucas again. The campaign added that the mayor has joined Lucas on Monday for a tour of the assembly district.
“Nikki Lucas understands the struggles of everyday New Yorkers—and we need strong common sense voices in Albany fighting on behalf of working people and their quality of life concerns,” Adams said Monday, according to the NY Post.
Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez has declined to endorse Lucas. Rather, the congresswoman backed a primary challenger: community organizer Keron Alleyne.
Alleyne tweeted pictures of himself with Ocasio-Cortez. He added in the caption, “Thank you again @AOC for your continued support and for amplifying this campaign! Always a pleasure to be in spaces filled with organizers who are ready to fight for working class New Yorkers.”
Ocasio-Cortez responded, “We’ve got your back @KeronAlleyne.”
Take a look —
We’ve got your back @KeronAlleyne 💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽 thank you for running https://t.co/Ig23sXPvrG
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 2, 2022
Ocasio-Cortez has amassed a very mixed record on endorsements. Last year, she successfully endorsed Brad Lander for city comptroller. However, she also endorsed Maya Wiley for New York mayor last year, instead of the eventual winner: Adams himself.
Since then, Ocasio-Cortez and Adams have maintained a tense relationship. They haven’t spoken one-on-one since July of last year, according to a report in The New York Times last month.
Ocasio-Cortez may be avoiding a conversation with Adams, but she’s still having conversations about him. In a March interview with New York magazine, she lobbed accusations of homophobia against some of the mayor’s appointments.
“I think it’s really disgraceful, frankly, the lack of Latino representation. And the thing is that this isn’t just about identity representation, it’s also about issue representation. Frankly, even with the mayor, some of his Latino appointments have been homophobic and have been unrepresentative of the interests of our broader community,” she said.
The two politicians may see their feud escalate during the Democratic primary.
Lucas will face Alleyne. Adams-endorsed Assemblymember Inez Dickens will face a primary challenge from Ocasio-Cortez’ favorite Delensia Glover. Incumbent Assemblymember Michael Benedetto will face primary challenger Jonathan Soto. T
he list goes on.
The primary election is officially on Tuesday, Jun. 28. Early voting has already started.
The Horn editorial team