AOC wins NY-14 Democratic primary

“Squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her Democratic primary challenge against former investment banker Marty Dolan on Tuesday evening. 

The Associated Press called the race minutes after polls closed at 9 p.m.

New York’s 14th Congressional District includes portions of the Bronx and Queens, and has been represented by Ocasio-Cortez since 2019. 

Dolan, 66, ran as a “progressive” Democrat, but not a “radical,” as he described Ocasio-Cortez on the campaign trail. Dolan pitched himself to voters as the politician who could correct Ocasio-Cortez’s record in office on spiraling immigration issues, lowering taxes and taking on New York City’s “financial cancer.” 

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“I think people just had enough of radicalism,” he told Just the News last week. “They’re just completely fed up with it.”

“AOC is absent on community,” Dolan added. “She’s not around. She’s absent on crime. She’s not around. She’s off doing things that are making her famous.”

Ocasio-Cortez is a founding member of Congress left-wing “Squad,” an informal group of nine progressive congressional Democrats. Her win in 2018, at just 29 years old, rocked the election cycle, unseating 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary. She has since become the leading voice of the Squad, benefiting from support from youths and Democratic Socialist voters. 

The progressive Democrat has come under increasing fire from moderate Democrats and Republicans since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched attacks on Israel, sparking a war that is ongoing. Ocasio-Cortez has repeatedly denounced Israel’s response to the attacks, slamming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “war criminal” and encouraging protesters on Columbia’s campus earlier this year as they established an encampment demanding the elite school cut funding from Israel.

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Capitol Hill, April 30, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The primary was held after Ocasio-Cortez joined fellow Squad member and New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman at a rally on Saturday, which came under fire from another New York Democrat for Bowman’s profanity-laced speech. 

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Bowman lashed out against the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Political Action Committee (AIPAC), the pro-Israel advocacy group supporting his Democratic primary challenger, longtime New York Democrat George Latimer, who currently serves as Westchester County Executive. 

Rep. Jamaal Bowman greets Sen. Bernie Sanders while he campaigns in the Bronx, June 22, 2024. (Reuters/Joy Malone)

“We are going to show f—ing AIPAC, the power of the motherf—ing South Bronx!” Bowman said at Saturday’s rally held in St. Mary’s Park in Mott Haven. “People ask me why I got a foul mouth. What am I supposed to do? You’re coming after me! You’re coming after my family! You’re coming after my children! I’m not supposed to fight back?”

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“We’re going to show them who the f— we are!” he added, jumping around the stage.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks during a rally for Rep. Jamaal Bowman at St. Mary’s Park on June 22, 2024, in the Bronx.  (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., slammed the speech as an “unhinged tirade” that does not resemble “the decency of the people I know and represent in the South Bronx.” 

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Ocasio-Cortez had her own viral moments during the rally, including videos that spread on social media showing the congresswoman shouting over sexually explicit lyrics from the Cardi B song “Enough,” banging on a podium, and knocking over microphones at one point. 

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The event was held to rally support for Bowman ahead of his primary challenge against Latimer, who has not lost an election across his three decades in politics. 

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.