Legal bid seeks to knock AOC off ballot line for left-wing Working Families Party: ‘Too involved in social experimentation’

Carl Campanile
·2 min read
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attens an event against a pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) which endorses Bowman's challenger in New York, United States on March 23, 2024
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attens an event against a pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) which endorses Bowman's challenger in New York, United States on March 23, 2024

A legal challenge has been filed to knock Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez off the left-leaning Working Families Party ballot line in the Nov. 5 general election, The Post has learned.

The objection, filed last week with the city Board of Elections, is part of a coordinated effort to diminish the WFP’s influence and presence in The Bronx.

“Her platform is not all helpful to working families,” said Ian Carpenter, a registered independent from Astoria, Queens who filed objections to Ocasio-Cortez’s WFP voter signatures.

A legal challenge has been filed to knock Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez off the left-leaning Working Families Party ballot line in the Nov. 5 general election, The Post has learned. Anadolu via Getty Images
A legal challenge has been filed to knock Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez off the left-leaning Working Families Party ballot line in the Nov. 5 general election, The Post has learned. Anadolu via Getty Images

“She’s got great passion but she’s too involved in social experimentation,” he added.

The Working Families Party has been a crucial second ballot line to help boost Democrats over Republicans for elections in hard-fought battleground districts.

The party also deploys activists to campaign and help elect progressives over moderates in Democratic Party primaries.

Ocasio-Cortez — whose 14th congressional district includes parts of The Bronx and Queens — was previously tossed off the WFP ballot line in 2020, following a challenge to her petitions by her then-Democratic primary opponent, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.

Challenges to WFP petitions were filed recently against nine Democratic legislative candidates backed by the WFP in the borough: Rep. Adriano Espaillat, state Sens. Robert Jackson, Gustavo Rivera and Jose Serrano and Assembly members Karina Reyes and Amanda Septimo.

WFP petitions for former AOC campaign aide Jonathan Soto — who is seeking to topple Assemblyman Michael Benedetto in a Democratic primary — were also challenged. Benedetto defeated Soto in 2022.

Bronx Conservative Party district leader Dion Powell said he’s part of a coordinated effort to stop the WFP’s strategy of pushing left-leaning candidates on Bronx voters despite having no real organization in the borough.

The objection, filed last week with the city Board of Elections, is part of a coordinated effort to diminish the WFP’s influence and presence in The Bronx. Getty Images
The objection, filed last week with the city Board of Elections, is part of a coordinated effort to diminish the WFP’s influence and presence in The Bronx. Getty Images

“They do zero work in our county. They have to go,” Powell said.

The Post reached out to Ocasio-Cortez for comment.

Asked about the petition challenges, WFP spokesman Ravi Mangla said, “This is a distraction meant to waste everyone’s time, and we’re confident our candidates will be on the ballot.”

Meanwhile, a lawsuit has been filed to knock Queens state Sen. Joe Addabbo off the ballot, claiming he doesn’t live where he claims to in South Ozone Park.

Addabbo, first elected to the Senate in 2008 after serving in the City Council, said he’s complying with the residency rule.