Incumbent Democrat Beats Out AOC-Endorsed Opponent In New York Primary Race

Incumbent Democrat Beats Out AOC-Endorsed Opponent In New York Primary Race

Justine Brooke Murray on August 23, 2022

New York Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney defeated state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi for New York’s newly-drawn 17th District, according to NPR, citing reporting from The Associated Press.

Rep. Maloney won with 66.7% of the vote, according to NPR.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair won his nomination for re-election over an AOC-backed candidate, determining a battle between the party’s established wing and progressives in a newly drawn district. Bronx and Queens Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Biaggi, according to CNN, while Maloney has been endorsed by former President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Maloney was formerly a congressman in New York’s 18th Congressional District until the state redrew its Congressional map, landing his home in the newly drawn 17th District. His decision to run for re-election, but in the newly-drawn district, angered progressives because it left him opposing the re-election of NY Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-17), an openly gay black man who won in 2021 and has been a favorite of progressives.

The thinly veiled racism here is profoundly disappointing.

A black man is ideologically ill suited to represent a Westchester County District that he represents presently and won decisively in 2020?

Outrageous. https://t.co/u56HjKbbO7

— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) May 18, 2022

Jones moved to the 10th District, where he entered a very crowded race for Congress, and progressive critics of Maloney accused him of jumping into a safer, “bluer” district, according to The Washington Post. Maloney’s dual party role as a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also opened him to criticism by Biaggi that his re-election bid flew in the face of party efforts to support strong candidates for re-election.

Both candidates have ties to the Clintons, the Post reported.

Biaggi, a two-term incumbent in the state senate, was deputy national operations director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, according to her campaign website. Maloney had worked on Clinton’s first presidential campaign and later became a top advisor in Clinton’s second term in office, his House biography states.

Maloney was a top advisor for New York Governors Elliot Spitzer and David Patterson before winning Congressional office in 2012, according to Blue Tent.