Wall Street banker Marty Dolan launched a primary challenge against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), arguing New Yorkers will have the final say on the “radical” policies she supports in the June 25 primary.
"We are all for the 'progress' implied by the word Progressive. However, within the Progressive movement, there are Radicals whose influence on the Democratic Party is overweight," he said on his campaign website.
"The impact in NYC is obvious: bail reform a disaster, the National Guard in the subway, toothpaste locked up in drugstores but criminals running free, scarce resources directed to (non-sanctuary) immigrants coming from all over the world," he continued.
"These difficulties must be addressed in the context of a runaway $34 trillion federal debt and NYC's 14% marginal tax rate," Dolan added. "Regional tax inequality is far more exaggerated in the USA than in any other country. Losing 500,000 taxpayers is unsustainable: fixing this must be our overwhelming priority."
He said all the progressive lawmakers can deliver is "breadcrumbs" when taxpayer concerns are ignored and top earners are leaving.
"New Yorkers have seen it all, including scams like the Radicals offer. But we know better that New Yorkers want NYC to be the best city in the best country in the world," he said. "Enough is enough."
This will be the first time AOC has had a primary challenge since 2020. But as the New York Post notes, the bid to unseat Ocasio-Cortez will be an uphill battle, as the Democrat lawmaker has a massive war chest, with $5.7 million cash on hand, compared to Dolan's $58,000. But stranger things have happened in politics, just ask Steve Sweeney, New Jersey's former Democratic Senate president who was unseated by an unknown truck driver that spent a whopping $153 on his campaign.