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AOC political group doesn’t give to endangered Democrats this quarter after previous uproar

The New York Democrat has mostly focused on local races and Democratic challengers.

Eric Garcia
Thursday 12 August 2021 17:01 BST
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New York Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s political action committee mostly avoided donating to endangered Democrats this most recent fundraising quarter, after her contributions caused an uproar during the first quarter of this year.

According to Courage to Change PAC’s quarterly report that accounts for fundraising from the middle of April to the end of June, the democratic socialist did not give to endangered Democrats. This followed the last fundraising quarter when Politico reported many vulnerable House Democrats like Rep Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania, Carolyn Bourdeaux Georgia and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan either declined the cash or pledged to give the money back.

Most of the money for that fundraising period was given to candidates for local races, given that it spanned the lead-up to New York City’s council and mayoral races. Rep Mondaire Jones of New York was the only incumbent Democratic member of Congress to receive money from the PAC during this time.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign spokesperson Ivet Contreras did not respond to two requests for comment from The Independent.

Still, a separate filing from the beginning of April to the middle of May showed Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s PAC did give to some congressional races. During that time, it gave to Karen Carter Peterson, who lost a special election to now Rep Troy Carter of Louisiana after Cedric Richmond resigned to join the Biden administration. The PAC also gave to progressive Rep Peter DeFazio, who is chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

The only endangered member of Congress who received money was Rep Tom O’Halleran of Arizona, who is part of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s frontline members who face difficult fights. Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s PAC gave $5,000 to Mr O’Halleran’s campaign.

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