Thirteen candidates have registered to take on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in November, but it's still unclear if any of them will be able to unseat the first-term congresswoman who routinely draws the ire of Republicans and establishment Democrats.
As The Guardian noted, eight Republicans are registered for their party's primary, while five Democrats — not including Ocasio-Cortez — have done the same on the left. All are vying to defeat Ocasio-Cortez, who has established herself as a socialist who is not afraid to rattle the cages and try to shake things up.
Some voters in New York's 14th district, which includes areas in the Bronx and Queens sections of New York City, spoke with The Guardian and pledged their support of Ocasio-Cortez as she seeks to remain in office.
"Give her a chance! We knew who she was when we sent her, that she'd make a noise, and making a noise was why we sent her," businessman Abdul Abbas said.
Add voter Carol Heraldo said, "She's done good things for the Bronx. I like how she presents herself as a woman, that she's firm, that she took what she believed and made it real. We don't see a lot of young people accomplish a lot because they're afraid — and she's not afraid."
Ocasio-Cortez has roughly $3.4 million in her re-election account, The Guardian reported, far more than any of the candidates challenging her. She defeated Rep. Joe Crowley, who first took office in 1999 and served as the House Democratic Caucus chair, in the 2018 Democratic primary, and then went on to win election to the House.
One issue that could hurt Ocasio-Cortez's re-election bid was her campaign last year to prevent Amazon from opening an office near her district, an effort that was successful but one that cost 25,000 jobs in New York City. Some surveys have signaled wavering support — or even opposition — to Ocasio-Cortez because of the Amazon deal that was ultimately pulled.
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