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A New York Congressman who lost his seat criticized AOC’s midterm campaigning.
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He said she didn’t help the party enough, an allegation she denies.
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Democrats managed to avoid huge losses to Republicans nationwide, but performed poorly in New York.
A New York Congressman who lost his seat in the midterm elections criticized New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, saying she didn’t do enough to help.
Sean Patrick Maloney has represented New York’s 17th congressional district in the House of Representatives since 2013 but lost to his Republican rival this week, a stunning defeat for the party.
Maloney was asked by The New York Times on Thursday who was to blame for their party’s poor performance.
The Times asked Maloney in the interview: “There is a debate in New York right now about the New York Democratic Party, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and some on the left are arguing its leadership is part of the problem here. Is that a conversation you are a part of?”
Maloney said in response that he did not see Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most famous progressives in Congress, campaigning in the run-up to the elections. Per Maloney, “she was nowhere to be found.”
Maloney is chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), giving him a particular responsibility for getting candidates elected.
Maloney said of Ocasio-Cortez: “I didn’t see her one minute of these midterms helping our House majority,” — noting that she endorsed a candidate who tried unsuccessfully to unseat him in the primaries.
“So, I’m not sure what kind of advice she has, but I’m sure she’ll be generous with it.”
The Times’ question related to criticism that Ocasio-Cortez gave of the New York Democratic party on Thursday, also to The Times.
She blamed the party’s slump in New York on factors including a lack of year-round organizing by the party and an “overreliance and insistence on leaning into Republican narratives on crime and safety.”
She also said the party was fractured there: “Not once has the New York State Democratic chair ever called me. All he has done is antagonize myself and any progressive candidates. We need to get together as a team.”
(Ocasio-Cortez was referring to Jay S. Jacobs, a senior party official.)
Maloney, in his interview, said that Ocasio-Cortez did not help the Democrats’ efforts across the country.
“But let’s be clear, she had almost nothing to do with what turned out to be an historic defense of our majority. Didn’t pay a dollar of dues. Didn’t do anything for our frontline candidates except give them money when they didn’t want it from her.”
Maloney said that “there are other voices who should be heard” besides Ocasio-Cortez, even as he noted “She’s an important voice in our politics.”
“But when it comes to passing our agenda through the Congress, or standing our ground on the political battlefield, she was nowhere to be found,” he added.
Ocasio-Cortez responded on Twitter on Thursday night, writing that Maloney “courted me for donations to swing races & it was the 1st thing I did this term.”
“Over a quarter million for Dems this cycle, DCCC facilitated some & now he denies it.”
She also said she had been involved in campaigning, including her visit to campaign for California Democrats: “If he isn’t aware of my visit to CA & efforts we put in, that’s on him.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
