Ocasio-Cortez, a former bartender who worked on Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign, defeated Rep. Joseph Crowley in the Democratic primary in June in New York’s 14th Congressional District.
But she now believes that Crowley is going against his word and plans to run as a third-party challenger.
“Crowley stated on live TV that he would absolutely support my candidacy. Instead, he’s stood me up for all 3 scheduled concession calls,“ Ocasio-Cortez said via Twitter this week. ”Now, he’s mounting a 3rd party challenge against me and the Democratic Party—and against the will of [NY Working Families].”
The clip she shared showed Crowley during a pre-primary debate saying he'd support his challenger if she won.
“Alexandria, the race is over and Democrats need to come together,” he said. “I’ve made my support for you clear and the fact that I’m not running. We’ve scheduled phone calls and your team has not followed through. I’d like to connect but I’m not willing to air grievances on Twitter.”
Crowley said he had the support of the Working Families Party and would be able to run as an independent on the party’s line but will not do so.
Crowley clarified in a later tweet that he cannot be removed from the ballot but he will not be running.
“For the record you can only be removed from the ballot if 1) you move out of NY; 2) die; 3) be convicted of a crime; 4) accept a nomination for another office (in a place I don’t live),” he wrote.
The ballot in November will include the pair of Democrats as well as Republican Anthony Pappas.
Ocasio-Cortez has embraced a number of far-left propositions, including calling for the abolishment of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which fights crimes such as illegal immigration, child pornography, and human trafficking.
The publication also noted that Ocasio-Cortez has made several unsubstantiated claims about Crowley, including accusing his campaign team of tampering with her campaign posters.
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