Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) acted like a very humble loser when he was defeated by 28-year-old wunderkind Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York's 14th congressional district. He even played a rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" for her and promised to support her midterm campaign. She then won a second primary in a neighboring district race she didn't even enter.
Her campaign, however, could be threatened by a few third parties. Crowley won the Working Families Party line in the 14th district and has accepted the nomination, meaning he'll still be on the ballot in November. That is a bold-faced betrayal, Ocasio-Cortez accused.
.@repjoecrowley stated on live TV that he would absolutely support my candidacy.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) July 12, 2018
Instead, he’s stood me up for all 3 scheduled concession calls.
Now, he’s mounting a 3rd party challenge against me and the Democratic Party- and against the will of @NYWFP.https://t.co/Xvb6Jk8N8q
Even Working Families Party State Director Bill Lipton wants Crowley to gracefully step aside.
“You’d think that given the moment we’re in, that Democratic leaders would want to help progressive forces to unite,” Lipton said regretfully.
Crowley is pushing back against Ocasio-Cortez's charge that he's mounting a third party campaign against her.
Alexandria, the race is over and Democrats need to come together. I’ve made my support for you clear and the fact that I’m not running. We’ve scheduled phone calls and your team has not followed through. I’d like to connect but I’m not willing to air grievances on Twitter. https://t.co/hxEeWEpI2O
— Joe Crowley (@JoeCrowleyNY) July 12, 2018
He also attempted to explain why he was not vacating the Working Families Party line.
Lots questions about WFP line. Was honored to have their support. I’m not running. For record you can only be removed from the ballot if 1) you move out of NY; 2) die; 3) be convicted of a crime; 4) accept a nomination for another office (in a place I don’t live).
— Joe Crowley (@JoeCrowleyNY) July 12, 2018