Is NYC Ready For More Members Of Congress Like AOC?

AOC won her race against Joe "the next Speaker" Crowley for a number of reasons. She's charismatic; she out-worked him; he was an absentee congressman in a demographically changed district; his record was far too conservative for the district... there were others. But one that was especially interesting-- and decisive-- was how many well-educated, economically-struggling young people live in the Bronx-Queens district.That's a big part of how she beat one of New York's most powerful-- at least on paper-- politicians. There are young activists all over the country who want to replicate what she did and many aim to be as relevant to reform in Congress as she has been. Blue America has endorsed several of them Kina Collins, Robert Emmons, Rachel Ventura and Marie Newman in Chicagoland, Morgan Harper in Columbus, Ohio, Jessica Cisneros in south Texas, Rebecca Parsons in northwest Washington, Brianna Wu in Boston, and, so far, two in New York City in the vicinity of AOC's district Jamaal Bowman and Shaniyat Chowdhury. We finishing up the vetting of a third and should be announcing her endorsement soon.

A few days ago City&State reporter Jeff Coltin did a deep dive into half a dozen of the New York candidates challenging Democratic incumbents. "They’re just six of the more than three-dozen candidates taking on New York City congressional incumbents this cycle," wrote Coltin. "But, more so than most others, they have all mimicked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s strategy of promoting progressive generational change-- and they’re already gaining momentum." He wrote that of the six, "Chowdhury matches Ocasio-Cortez’s profile best, as a fellow 20-something, DSA member and bartender taking on the boss of the Queens Democratic Party [and] none of the candidates, except Chowdhury, currently has the luxury of a head-to-head race against the incumbent."

AOC’s win over then-Rep. Joseph Crowley in the 2018 Democratic primary proved that a younger, more exciting candidate can unseat an older, blander one by challenging from the left. Crowley’s loss showed that even the most powerful incumbents-- like the fourth-ranking House Democrat and Meeks’ predecessor as Queens party boss-- could be vulnerable.

The dramatic upset, and a number of successful progressive challenges in New York state Senate races, have induced more first-time candidates to run and infused their campaigns with hope...

Google “the next AOC” and you’ll find endless examples of journalists hunting for and anointing successors to the 30-year-old member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Less than a year into Ocasio-Cortez’s first term, it has become a tired cliche-- the political equivalent of calling any dunking high school student the next LeBron James. “I’ve had that article written about me like five times now!” Boylan said with a laugh.

But the aspirants don’t mind the comparison-- most called her an inspiration. Bowman said she “opened the floodgates” for new people running for office. Chowdhury was even a lead organizer on her congressional campaign. Brand New Congress, the political action committee that helped elect Ocasio-Cortez, is backing Ashcraft, Chowdhury, Gagarin and Bowman. Another progressive PAC associated with Ocasio-Cortez, Justice Democrats, is also backing Bowman. Ashcraft, Chowdhury and Gagarin are all members of the Democratic Socialists of America.

...As part of their progressive reformer ethos, each of the candidates is pledging not to accept contributions from certain groups of donors. It’s a low-risk strategy, since real estate developers, fossil fuel companies and corporate political action committees aren’t interested in long shot left-leaning insurgents. “I can’t imagine that any corporate PAC would want to (donate), because of everything I’ve said on the record and what I represent,” Ashcraft said.

 So why the public pledge? “Just in case,” she said with a laugh. “It’s saving my campaign the stamp of sending that check back.”

But, of course, these campaigns aren’t just trying to win in June; their hope is to disrupt the system. They’re part of a movement that they hope could become as powerful within the Democratic Party as the religious right or the tea party have been among Republicans. Even if they lose, pulling the incumbents leftward could be considered a victory. Their overarching goals include less corporate influence over policymaking and big social investments, such as “Medicare for All” and the “Green New Deal.”

Some of the dozens of candidates running against incumbents are just trying to jump on a bandwagon and are pretty worthless distractions. Some are not much more than vanity candidates. And some don't have real understandings of contemporary politics, let alone class politics, or even imagine Hillary is a "liberal." I'll re-publish Coltin's profiles for the New York City candidates who actually make some sense:

Jamaal Bowman

District 16: Northern Bronx and southern Westchester County

Opponents: Rep. Eliot Engel, Andom Ghebreghiorgis, Samuel Ravelo

Age: 43

Home: Yonkers, for seven years, with his wife and three children

Occupation: Principal at Cornerstone Academy for Social Action in the Bronx

Early endorsements: Justice Democrats, Brand New Congress, Blue America, former gubernatorial candidates Cynthia Nixon and Zephyr Teachout, education activist Diane Ravitch

Political inspirations: Rep. Maxine Waters, Ralph Nader, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and “The Squad”

Political identification: “As an educator. As an American. As a human being. As a father. As a husband. As a person who cares about other people... So I don’t subscribe to labels. I care about people, I care about humanity. And I want to put forth an agenda that taps into that.”

2016 presidential primary vote: “I refuse to say.” (His campaign later confirmed he was a registered independent and couldn’t vote.)

2016 presidential general vote: Hillary Clinton

Top priority in Congress: “To build a movement to engage communities and individuals that have been historically ignored or historically disenfranchised. In terms of policy topics, obviously, public education is a huge focus for me with a specific focus on early childhood education. We also need to focus on housing. In the wealthiest country in the world, we shouldn’t have anyone homeless at all.”

Why are you running against Engel? “The tipping point for me was 2017-2018 when 34 children died within the K-12 school system in the Bronx, and 17 of those children died via suicide. That same year, the Parkland shooting occurred. And I didn’t really hear anything from our politicians except thoughts and prayers... And Eliot Engel hasn’t shown the leadership in building a movement that we need.”

What are your qualifications? “I’m a middle school principal. And I’ve had many people tell me, if you can run a middle school in the Bronx, Congress should be a piece of cake. The ability and the need to build relationships with families and community members and community-based organizations to meet the holistic needs of children in the community is something I’ve been doing for the last 20 years.”

Declining any kind of donations? “We’re not taking any money from real estate PACs, any corporate PACs at all. Only individual contributions.”

An old friend of the blog, Jonathan Tasini, has a great podcast now, Working Life, and he recently interviewed Jamaal Bowman (as well as Shaniyat Chowdhury, which you'll find in the next segment below). This interview with Jamaal in extremely compelling and I urge everyone to take a few minutes and listen to it.

Shaniyat Chowdhury

District 5: Southeast Queens and southwestern Nassau County

Opponents: Rep. Gregory Meeks

Age: 27

Home: South Jamaica Houses, for the past eight years, with family

Occupation: Bartender, Terraza 7

Early endorsements: Brand New Congress, Blue America, South Jamaica Resident Green Committee

Political inspirations: Bernie Sanders, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar

Political terms: “I’m not afraid of being called a socialist. I’m anti-capitalist, that’s for sure. But I do identify as a Democrat, I just think that we could definitely do better as a party.”

2016 presidential primary vote: N/A, was registered independent

2016 presidential general vote: Jill Stein

Top priority in Congress: “Breaking up big banks, taking money out of politics and making sure everyone has free homes.”

Why are you running against Meeks? “He’s been representing the district for over 20 years. Being one of the most corrupt Congress members (according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) has a lot to do with where he’s taken money from... We want a working-class agenda for District 5 and not for the real estate and finance industries.”

What are your qualifications? “I interned and worked in the New York state Assembly as a legislative aide to Assemblywoman Latrice Walker. I’m also a United States Marine, so I served my country. I’m more than capable of serving my district. I’m an organizer and an activist. I’m also an educator. I’ve also done a couple campaigns, the most notable one was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”

Declining any kind of donations? “No real estate. No Wall Street money. No big bank money. No big money whatsoever.”

Author and labor activist Jonathan Tasini-- same guy who did the interview above with Jamaal Bowman-- did an extremely enlightening session with Shan this week for his podcast, Working Life. It's very much worth listening to, whether you live in the district or not. Consider contributing to Chowdhury's and Bowman's grassroots campaigns here.

Lauren Ashcraft

District 12: East Side of Manhattan, Long Island City and southern Astoria, Queens, and Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Opponents: Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Erica Vladimer, Peter Harrison, Suraj Patel

Age: 30

Home: Long Island City, since May 2019, from Turtle Bay, which is also in the district-- with her partner and two rescue cats

Occupation: Director of stewardship at Middle Collegiate Church and stand-up comedian. Previously, project manager at JPMorgan Chase & Co., through October 2019.

Early endorsements: Brand New Congress, YoungPAC, Forward Thinking Democracy

Political inspirations: Jacqui Lewis, pastor at Middle Collegiate Church, and Bernie Sanders, who “turned me into the Democratic Socialist that I am.”

Political terms: Democratic Socialist, (DSA member since spring 2019), “And I guess I am a progressive, but I feel that word has been co-opted and doesn’t really carry the same weight that it used to.”

2016 presidential primary vote: “I would have voted for Bernie, but was one of the people that didn’t realize you had to change your registration (to Democrat) a really long time before the primary.”

2016 presidential general vote: Hillary Clinton

Top priority in Congress: “It’s absolutely imperative that we get big money out of politics. I absolutely would love an end goal of public financing of federal elections. But in the meantime, I had an idea for a tax credit that you could check a box on your tax returns and would be eligible for a federal tax credit that you could use for federal elections to donate to campaigns that inspire you.”

Why are you running against Maloney? “District 12 in particular is a very physical representation of the inequality in our society... And I’m fighting to get to the root of that problem, which is to get big money out of politics, so that representatives listen to the people and that’s their only influence.”

What are your qualifications? “My feeling on what qualifies someone to run for office is that they understand (the) issues that their community faces – that they’re passionate about changing and standing up for their community and being a vocal advocate.”

Declining any kind of donations? “I am not accepting corporate or super PAC money, and I’m also not accepting fossil fuel money... I am a former banking industry employee, and so senior executives and CEOs of the banking industry-- like the executive board, etc., those donations would be returned as well.”