Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suffered a stinging defeat that left her future in a bad place
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is an ambitious young politician.
She thought she would get the biggest promotion of her career.
But Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suffered a stinging defeat that left her future in a bad place.
Democrats reject Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s bid to lead key House committee
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was in search of the biggest promotion of her political career.
She made a bid to become the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee.
The committee is one of the most powerful in the House, charged with scrutinizing the federal government.
It was a perfect post for Ocasio-Cortez to spar with the incoming Trump administration.
The ranking Democrat on the committee would be in line to the chair if control of the House flipped after the 2026 Midterm Elections.
Ocasio-Cortez was part of a group of younger Democrats who tried to move up the ladder of leadership after the election.
“House Democrats have clearly been in the midst of a generational transition,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told reporters at a press conference.
74-year-old Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA) challenged Ocasio-Cortez for the spot on the House Oversight Committee.
This was the biggest test of Ocasio-Cortez’s political strength since she entered the House.
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) lobbied behind the scenes in support of Connolly.
Ocasio-Cortez lost by a vote of 131 to 84 in a closed-door meeting.
“I think my colleagues were measuring their votes by who’s got experience, who is seasoned, who can be trusted, who’s capable and who’s got a record of productivity, and I think that prevailed,” Connolly said after the vote.
Democrats didn’t trust Ocasio-Cortez
Ocasio-Cortez has excelled at getting herself attention and clashing with Democrat leadership.
But she failed at the basics of politics.
Representative Annie Kuster (D-NH) revealed that House Democrats in competitive seats were worried that Ocasio-Cortez would support Primary challengers to incumbents.
Ocasio-Cortez promised she wouldn’t, but that was ignored by her colleagues.
“I think there are members that very much want this generational change, but I think members who had only been here a couple of terms gave them pause,” Kuster said.
Other younger House Democrats won ranking spots on committees against veteran members.
“Tried my best. Sorry I couldn’t pull it through everyone—we live to fight another day,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on social media after her defeat.
Representative Becca Balint (D-VT), an Ocasio-Cortez ally, was disappointed at the outcome.
“I’m disappointed. I know Gerry will do a great job. But there’s no substitute for having someone in that position that literally has millions of Americans following her,” Balint said about Ocasio-Cortez’s social media following. “I think that the seniority issue in this building gets in the way. Our people back home, they don’t care about seniority.”
Connolly vowed that he would use his new post to wage war against the incoming Trump administration.
“We know what the Republican playbook will be. We have seen it before.,” Connolly declared. “This will be trench warfare. Now is not the time to be timid. I promise the American people that our Committee Democrats will be a beacon of truth and prepared from Day One to counter Republican gaslighting.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez learned the hard way that she’s not as popular as she thought.
