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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Defeated in House Leadership Race
Progressive voters are seething. Conservatives hoping to expand the Republican House majority are also disappointed.
“AOC loses 131–84 to Gerry Connolly in battle to lead House Oversight,” the Citizen Free Press reported this week.
The news wasn’t surprising to progressive voters, who are growing cynically used to being dealt election defeats since 2024. The news does herald a potential shift in direction for the Democratic Party.
Since the election, the big question haunting Democrats — elected, leadership, voters, and donors — has been some version of the following: “Did we go too far left? Or not far left enough?
The defeat of progressive “Squad” founding member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in such a crucial House leadership race signals the Democratic Party power brokers are leaning towards the former explanation rather than the latter.
Democrats lost in 2024 because the party moved too far left for average working-class voters. By rejecting AOC, is the Democratic Party signaling a shift back to the center?
“Ocasio-Cortez tried to become an accepted member of the Democrat establishment during the last cycle by vocally defending the Biden family from Republican probes into its business dealings, but her…