Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has quietly backed off endorsing Democratic primary challengers


Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) beat the odds in 2018, winning a primary against a Democrat who'd been in office for decades. But since she's entered Congress, Ocasio-Cortez has largely declined to endorse progressives following her lead, Politico reports.
Ocasio-Cortez entered Congress last year ready to shake things up. She quickly joined up with the progressive group Justice Democrats and called on its supporters to run against incumbents, and reportedly set her primarying sights on House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) even before she took office.
But since starting to work with those longstanding Democrats, Ocasio-Cortez has publicly supported ousting just two of them in this year's elections. In terms of primary challengers, she only endorsed Marie Newman against Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) and Jessica Cisneros in her challenge of Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas); both Lipinski and Cueller are among the most conservative House Democrats. Justice Democrats have meanwhile endorsed four other progressive challengers whom Ocasio-Cortez has so far declined to back, including one Ocasio-Cortez campaigned for in 2018. It all seems to put Ocasio-Cortez at odds with Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) philosophy of completely restructuring the Democratic party.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
To be clear, Ocasio-Cortez hasn't backed away from backing progressives in general. She endorsed seven progressive women challenging Republican congressmembers and senators just last month, even bucking the Democratic party's preferred candidate to challenge Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). Read more at Politico.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
May 26 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Monday's political cartoons feature Donald Trump's red tie, Hunter Biden's crypto lament, and one meaning of Memorial Day
-
3 tips for coping with financial stress
The explainer Feel more at peace in an unpredictable economy
-
Sudoku medium: May 26, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Tied Supreme Court blocks church charter school
speed read The court upheld the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision to bar overtly religious public charter schools
-
GOP megabill would limit judicial oversight of Trump
speed read The domestic policy bill Republicans pushed through the House would protect the Trump administration from the consequences of violating court orders
-
Judge scolds DOJ over Newark mayor arrest
speed read Ras Baraka was arrested during a May 9 surprise visit to a migrant detention facility
-
Trump lectures South Africa president on 'white genocide'
speed read Trump has cut off aid to South Africa over his demonstrably false genocide claims
-
Trump twists House GOP arms on megabill
speed read The bill will provide a $350 billion boost to military and anti-immigration spending and 'cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy programs'
-
Trump DOJ said to pay $5M to family of Jan. 6 rioter
speed read The US will pay a hefty sum to the family of Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot on January 6
-
Trump DOJ charging House Democrat in ICE fracas
speed read Rep. LaMonica McIver is being charged with assault over a clash outside an immigration detention facility in Newark
-
Biden diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer
speed read The diagnosis hits close to home, as the former president 'dedicated much of his later career to cancer research'