Ocasio Cortez Congress Challengers: Who Can Beat AOC In New York?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, the rising Democratic Party star who's also the presidential campaign surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, is facing 13 challengers for her 14th Congressional District seat in November.

Of the wannabee congresspersons, five are Democrats and eight, Republicans. All five Dems are running as moderate versions of AOC, who's a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (like Sanders) and embraces democratic socialism as part of her political identity. All the eight Republicans are running against her because they either don't like her or her democratic socialist ideals.

AOC, 30, describes democratic socialism as "part of what I am. It's not all of what I am. And I think that that's a very important distinction." She supports progressive policies such as single-payer Medicare for All, tuition-free public college and trade school and a federal job guarantee. She also wants the federal government to cancel all $1.6 trillion of outstanding student debt, guarantee family leave and abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She supports an energy policy relying on 100% renewables.

Her contenders among the Dems:

• Fernando Cabrera, a New York City councilman, said the 14th needs a moderate Democrat instead of “a no show in the district” (as he describes AOC) who “hasn’t brought about anything except division within the party.” He’s against AOC's New Deal and Medicare-for-all.
• Badrun Khan says she's an activist that’s “spent her entire life fighting for justice, equality and fairness in her community.” She's expectedly positioned herself as a more moderate alternative to AOC. She doesn't support Medicare-for-all.
• Michelle Caruso-Cabrera is a former CNBC correspondent, and a fierce critic of socialism. She's a committed capitalist that's supported free markets during her career. Oddly, she backs former president Ronald Reagan's discredited economic policy of trickle-down capitalism and his calls for limited government.

Among Republicans:

• Jineea Butler, a Puerto Rican-born Republican, describes herself as “a defender of the homeless in New York City.” She's ctiticized what she says are AOC’s socialist policies.
• John Cummings presents himself as an alternative to the democratic socialist AOC. He describes himself as a “small-government guy” who will promote choice on issues such as education.
• Ruth Papazian is a medical journalist and child of Egyptian immigrants who blames AOC for scuttling the deal that would have had Amazon establish its headquarters in Queens but only if New York City gave it billions of dollars in perks and incentives. She dislikes AOC's agenda she says is too far to the left.