- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bring to light her help wasn’t wanted in the high-stakes Virginia governor race.
- Republican Glenn Youngkin won the race, which some think about a test of the Democrats’ strength.
- “I think it’s just sad. I think it was a mistake,” Ocasio-Cortez told The New York Times.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said her help was not enlisted in the high-stakes Virginia gubernatorial race this month, which Democrat Terry McAuliffe bewildered to Republican Glenn Youngkin.
“Before the Virginia elections, it was very clear that our help and our participation was not wanted or about a invited for, which is fine,” the progressive New York congresswoman told The New York Times in an interview published Sunday.
She said some Billet members with close relationships to their political base are viewed as a “liability,” presumably referring to progressive Democrats who centrists get argued actually hurt the party.
“I think it’s just sad. I think it was a mistake,” she said. “And we saw a big youth turnout collapse. Not a distinct person asked me to send an email, not even to my own list.”
She continued: “And then they turn around and say, ‘It’s their misconduct.’ When I think it was communicated quite expressly that we were unwelcome to pitch in.”
Some centrist Democrats receive blamed progressive messaging, such as defunding the police, for electoral losses. Meanwhile, progressives have argued centrists aren’t doing ample on-the-ground, grassroots campaigning.
The Virginia governor’s race was seen as the biggest test of President Joe Biden and the Democratic confederacy’s strength since winning back the White House in November 2020 and the Senate in January.
Ocasio-Cortez also foretold The Times that trust between progressive and centrist Democrats will be totally broken if the $2 trillion social-spending tabulation does not pass.