AOC Throws Down Gauntlet To Establishment Dems, Endorses Slate of All-Women Progressive Candidates

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced on Friday a plan to take on Democratic establishment candidates across the country, with a new political action committee endorsing an all-women slate of progressive candidates.

The more than a dozen endorsements include Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, who is running in the Texas primary against Senate Democrats’ preferred candidate MJ Hegar. Ramirez chief of staff David Sanchez told Mediaite what the Ocasio-Cortez endorsement means for the upstart campaign.

“We’re proud to receive her endorsement, it’s really exciting to have someone who is standing up for progressive values, a Latina running statewide in Texas as a progressive, and being endorsed by AOC means a lot for our campaign,” he said. “It shows what we’re fighting for, what’s at stake, and highlights the big issues out there like climate change and Medicare for All. Texas leads the country in uninsured Americans, at 1-in-5 Texans, for Latinos in the state it’s 1-in-3, so we want to make sure we can get everyone covered.”

Ocasio-Cortez told the New York Times she wants to help elect a progressive majority in the House of Representatives.

“There’s kind of a dual nature to this: One is opening the door to newcomers, and the other is to reward members of Congress that are exhibiting very large amounts of political courage,” she said.

Ocasio-Cortez herself unseated a 20-year Democratic congressman and carefully selected which races she would intervene in where he endorsement could help the progressive candidate win their race, the Times reported.