Campaign

Ocasio-Cortez facing primary challenge from Wall Street veteran

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) speaks during a press conference on psychedelics with Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Rep. Lou Correa (D-Cali.) outside the Capitol on Thursday, July 13, 2023.

Wall Street veteran Marty Dolan is launching a long-shot primary challenge against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

“The Radicals can’t deliver more than breadcrumbs when they ignore that the primary breadwinners are leaving and brush off taxpayer concerns in favor of abstract populist ideologies. Enough is enough,” he wrote in his campaign announcement.

“New Yorkers have seen it all, including scams like the Radicals offer. But we know better that New Yorkers want NYC to be the best city in the best country in the world,” he added.

According to his campaign website, Dolan worked in the global risk insurance sector and has been a financial adviser, a strategist and investor for the past 40 years. He previously launched a challenge to Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) in New York’s 16th Congressional District, but switched districts after George Latimer, a New York county executive, joined the race, Bloomberg reported.

Ocasio-Cortez has served in Congress since 2019, when she became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Dolan appears to be mounting his campaign against “radical” policies, according to his announcement.

“The June 25th, 2024 primary will be a referendum: are we better or worse off from following Radical policies? We are all for the ‘progress’ implied by the word Progressive. However, within the Progressive movement, there are Radicals whose influence on the Democratic Party is overweight,” he said.

“The impact in NYC is obvious: bail reform a disaster, the National Guard in the subway, toothpaste locked up in drugstores but criminals running free, scarce resources directed to (non-sanctuary) immigrants coming from all over the world,” he added.

The Hill has reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign for comment.