Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is so popular she doesn’t even have to run in an election to win it.
According to a report in the New York Daily News, the self-identified socialist who has been the darling of the mainstream media since scoring an upset win in a U.S. House Democratic primary has also won the Reform Party primary for a neighboring Congressional district.
The city Board of Elections was set Tuesday to certify Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s victory in the write-in contest for the small party, descended from the presidential campaigns of H. Ross Perot in the 1990s.
Corbin Trent, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s communications director, was unaware of his boss’s victory in the 15th Congressional District until asked for comment, the Daily News reported Tuesday.
But there is no possibility of her representing two House districts; New York law doesn’t allow a person to be a candidate for multiple offices in the same election.
The candidate herself took to Twitter to express surprise and to say she was flattered but would have to decline the nomination.
“Shockingly — and I’m told this is not a joke — we have ALSO won a primary in the neighboring 15th Congressional District via write-in campaign on the Reform line! While I am honored that so many Bronxites are excited about our campaign, I will remain the Dem nominee for NY-14,” she wrote.
Shockingly - and I’m told this is not a joke - we have ALSO won a primary in the neighboring 15th Congressional District via write-in campaign on the Reform line!
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) July 11, 2018
While I am honored that so many Bronxites are excited about our campaign, I will remain the Dem nominee for NY-14. https://t.co/edidvU5sOr
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is running as a Democrat in the 14th Congressional District, which spans the Bronx and Queens, while the Bronx-based 15th District has a long-term incumbent Democrat in Rep. Jose Serrano.
Mr. Serrano finished second in the Reform Party’s race, the Daily News reported.
Mr. Trent said that it was almost certain that a number of voters — not a large number would be needed to win the Reform nod as a write-in — simply knew of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez from her campaigning in the same borough and the high-profile upset last month over 10-term incumbent Rep. Joseph Crowley.
“It appears it may have had a little bit of a wave effect, too,” he said.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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