AOC hints that she may not endorse an NYC mayoral candidate

More On:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

AOC addresses Israel-Hamas ceasefire at town hall

Pelosi tried to stop Green New Deal reveal over AOC anxiety, book claims

Kill Bill: De Blasio’s endorsement in mayoral race would be poison for candidates, poll says

Blinken says White House will go through with arms sale to Israel

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hinted she’s not thrilled with the Democratic candidates for mayor and may sit out the race.

Following a virtual town hall meeting Monday, the lefty firebrand said she will definitely focus on making endorsements in primary contests for City Council, but was mum on the race for City Hall.

“We’re looking at engaging on [the] city level in City Council races quite soon,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters.

The congresswoman noted, with a chuckle, that it was her “official congressional town hall” meeting and didn’t want to delve deeply into political campaigns.

Still, it would be a telling statement if AOC, a Democratic Socialist and emerging leader of the party’s left wing who has stumped for like-minded candidates in states across the country, stayed neutral in the race for New York City mayor.

The mayor of the Big Apple — the nation’s largest city — is arguably the most influential urban leader in the country.

Sources said that city Comptroller Scott Stringer had a shot at getting AOC/s endorsement — but that was before a former campaign aide accused him of sexual misconduct. Stringer denied wrongdoing but the allegation triggered the withdrawal of support from progressive female state legislators whose districts overlap with Ocasio-Cortez’s congressional district as well as political clubs.

Two of the leading mayoral contenders — Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and entrepreneur Andrew Yang — may be too moderate for AOC’s tastes. Both are more supportive of law enforcement — and unlike AOC — oppose “defunding” the police.

Ocasio-Cortez claimed that beefing up police presence in neighborhoods doesn’t curb crime without addressing root causes.

“I think we have to end this reflexive or rather this very impulsive reflex of just saying, `Where there is crime, add police. …We know that that doesn’t work,” she said.

“If the knee jerk reaction to every time someone sees an elevated incidence of crime is pour money into policing, I really question how much that person has really thoroughly looked at the data and thought about this issue and how comprehensive their response is.”

Other candidates more ideologically aligned with AOC — Dianne Morales and Maya Wiley — have not caught fire.

Ocasio-Cortez’s support could boost a candidate.

A poll commissioned by the Hotel Workers for Strong Communities PAC found that AOC has a 74 percent favorability rating among city Democrats.

Two-thirds of Dems had a “very favorable” view of the congresswoman.

In other matters, Ocasio-Cortez said unlike her New York Democratic colleagues in the House, she supports only a partial repeal of the $10,000 cap on writing off state and local taxes on federal tax returns.

She said working class and middle class New Yorkers should be exempt from the cap — but not the super wealthy.

“Let’s keep [the SALT cap] for the super, super wealthy who are not paying enough in taxes to begin with,” she said.

“Let’s fix the situation for people like you and other homeowners in our district,” she said.

Share this article:

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post Thousands of cannonball jellyfish invade Georgia's Tybee Island
Next post The Charming Story Behind Why Mulan Plays With Her Hair So Much