AOC, Other Progressive US Democrats Fight to Expand Influence With Tuesday Primaries

New York state holds primary elections on Tuesday to determine the fate of progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other U.S. House members, testing the strength of the Democratic Party’s left wing after…

ReutersJun 23, 20203 min read

SPIRITED KENTUCKY CONTEST

In Kentucky’s primaries, progressive Charles Booker, an African-American state legislator, is waging an unexpectedly spirited challenge to Amy McGrath, an ex-fighter pilot, in the race to become the Democratic candidate to face Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Nov. 3.

Like Engel, McGrath is backed by the party establishment. But the recent Black Lives Matter protests have elevated the candidacy of Booker.

Nowhere was that more apparent than when Warren, who supported McGrath in her failed bid for a U.S. House of Representatives seat in 2018 and initially in her Senate candidacy, switched allegiance to Booker.

“Things are changing quickly here,” said Dewey Clayton, political scientist at the University of Louisville.

In New York, the moderate-progressive competition is showcased in yet another primary race, where Representative Carolyn Maloney aims for a 15th two-year term in the House.

The 74-year-old Maloney faces a challenge from the left by 36-year-old Suraj Patel, who worked in commercial real estate and as a campaign aide to former President Barack Obama.

Patel failed in 2018 to unseat Maloney and is again running for Congress telling voters he is “trying to help change the world” with progressive vows such as “debt-free college.”

Both New York and Kentucky have encouraged mail-in balloting as a safe alternative to in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic, prompting record numbers of absentee ballot requests.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by John Whitesides; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Peter Cooney)