Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., will face a 2020 challenge from a socially conservative pastor and City Council member from the Bronx who vowed this week to not "run more jobs out of New York City."
"We have a congresswoman that is literally steering us in the wrong direction," Councilman Fernando Cabrera told the New York Daily News in announcing his candidacy Thursday.
"The district needs someone that's going to be present, that's going to attend to quality-of-life issues that are so pertinent to that district, someone that's going to equally represent the Bronx and Queens together, who's not going to run more jobs out of New York City."
Cabrera, 55, a Democrat who was born to Dominican and Puerto Rican parents, was first elected to City Council in 2010, representing portions of the Bronx and Queens.
He holds degrees Southern California College, Liberty University and from Argosy University in Florida. Cabrera is senior pastor of New Life Outreach International in the Bronx.
Cabrera slammed Ocasio-Cortez's far-left and socialist views — including her opposition to Amazon's plans to locate a second headquarters in Queens — as too liberal for her constituents.
"This district is a moderate district," he told the Daily News. "If you look at almost every council member representing that area, they're moderates and conservatives."
Cabrera said he supported impeaching President Donald Trump — "I'm following [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's] lead" — he bashed Ocasio-Cortez for handing Trump fodder to attack Democrats.
"She doesn’t have the skill to work within a team and understand the power of chemistry within the political realm," he told the Daily News. "Trump is going to use it and is using it to divide and conquer."
The New York Democratic primary is to be held on June 23, 2020. Cabrera is among 11 other contenders, mostly Republican, vying to unseat the first-term Ocasio-Cortez.
One other Democrat, Jose Velazquez, has already announced his candidacy, the Daily News reports.
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