Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez finished her upstate tour in Syracuse on Monday with a meeting with Mayor Sharon Owens and local members of the Democratic and Working Families Party to discuss how they can mobilize infrequent voters, CNY Central reported.
It came following stops in Buffalo and Ithaca, during which she held the crowded “Students vs. Billionaires” town hall for Cornell University and Ithaca College students and campaigned with Rep. Josh Riley, who represents one of the competitive House districts in the state.
“New York has become increasingly relevant to whether we have a majority or not in the House,” Ocasio-Cortez told The New York Times. According to Central Current, at Monday’s event, she claimed the key to the Democratic House majority was New York, where Republicans control seven seats.
The tour also gave rise to speculation that Ocasio-Cortez, 36, could be getting ready to run for the Senate or even for the presidency in 2028.
Leaving All Saints Church on Monday in a Buffalo Bills hoodie, she told reporters that she was delivering a message of hope.
“You know, we’re going to be able to turn this around, but it’s going to take a lot of work and it’s going to take all of us banding together and turning out.”
When asked about her impressions of Syracuse, the Bronx native responded: “I love Syracuse.”
According to This Is CNY, on Monday, Ocasio-Cortez and Owens spent an hour having lunch at Salt City Market downtown, their first meeting. They discussed Trump’s deportation campaign, Interstate 81 viaduct removal project, synthetic drugs, and property tax exemptions for Syracuse University and other large organizations.
The church event, advertised as a training session, was attended by about 200 supporters, according to CNY Central. Her team analyzed the state voting data and identified more than 6,000 Democrats in Syracuse who hadn’t voted in the last two elections, with a plan to reach out to them through phone, mail, and door-to-door canvassing.
The campaign dubbed it “Project Reactivation”. It will last for five weeks and will consist of a mailer from Owens, phone banking, and two weeks of canvassing before election day, Central Current reported.
Ocasio-Cortez called upon people to elect progressive representatives again and again because they should “build it, and build it, and build it, until the dam breaks.”
There were several politicians among the audience, including state Sen. Rachel May, Onondaga County Legislature Chair Nicole Watts, Common Councilor Hanah Ehrenreich, City Auditor Alex Marion, and Assembly candidate Maurice Brown. The visit came a few days after the Central New York Working Families Party became an official chapter of the statewide organization.
The tour began on Thursday when Ocasio-Cortez visited Buffalo where she met in private with Mayor Sean Ryan and spoke to nearly 100 organizers at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. According to Axios, the goal was “to transform the state of New York”.
Her campaign is going to target almost 5,000 inactive Democrats in Buffalo. As she explained, a test run in her district reactivated about 30 percent of the targeted voters.
On Saturday, she campaigned with Riley at an apple festival in Ithaca. Riley, who won the 19th Congressional District in 2024 barely, will face Republican state Sen. Peter Oberacker in November.
As Axios reports, the national Republican super PAC decided to remove $4.8 million from its planned advertising spend in that race. It also notes that some of the Democrats running for competitive House races have indicated that they don’t want Ocasio-Cortez campaigning for them.
On Sunday, she headlined the “Students vs. Billionaires” town hall at the Ithaca Downtown Conference Center organized by More Perfect University and Cornell student organizations. The Cornell Daily Sun counted about 1,200 attendees; other sources estimate it closer to 2,000.
Ocasio-Cortez criticized Cornell for mishandling a lawsuit against fraternity members accused of sexual assault, as well as the crackdown on the speech of protesters among the students. Before taking the stage, she was joined by leaders of Cornell’s Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter in chanting “from the river to the sea”, a slogan that the House of Representatives condemned as antisemitic.
As Axios explains, Ocasio-Cortez announced her upstate tour along with a $300,000 donation to the state Democratic campaign fund controlled by Gov. Kathy Hochul. “I’m more than happy to go wherever I’m needed,” she told the Times.
She has said she would make her decision after the midterms and told CNN she was focused on reelection to the House at the moment. In case of the Senate, Ocasio-Cortez is likely to run for the seat of Sen. Chuck Schumer in 2028.
New York residents have until Oct. 24 to register for the Nov. 3 general election. The early voting runs Oct. 24 through Nov. 1.
1 comment
Start now generating extra home based cash by doing very easy and simple job from home. Last month i have earned $19,753 from this job in my part time. This job is just awesome and its earning are greater than 9 to 5 office job. Join this right now by follow instructions here…
.
Simply visit this website for further information………. http://Www.PayAtHome1.Com/