It was only 11 months ago when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shocked the political world with a primary upset of Representative Joseph Crowley, the No. 4 Democrat in the House and a mainstay in the Queens Democratic machine.
Then the youngest woman ever elected to Congress took Washington by storm, using her savvy social media skills to help achieve mainstream buy-in for ideas once deemed too far left for Democrats...
“Our criminal justice system needs to change,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez told The New York Times in a statement. “New Yorkers deserve a seat at the table, and a champion who will fight to realign our priorities toward equal treatment under the law. If Tiffany Cabán wins, things are going to change.”
The Democratic primary on June 25 is seen as something of a referendum on whether a diverse borough like Queens is ready to embrace the liberal criminal justice reforms — aimed at ending the era of mass incarceration — that are sweeping the country...
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement was one of the most sought after among progressive candidates in the race to replace the longtime district attorney, Richard A. Brown, who died May 4 from complications of Parkinson’s disease. Mr. Brown had previously announced he would resign on June 1, the 28th anniversary of his taking the office.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, who has more than 4 million followers on Twitter, is expected to send an email to her supporters this week announcing her endorsement and asking them to donate to Ms. Cabán.
“Instead of criminalizing poverty, we’re going to dedicate resources toward prosecuting abusive landlords,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said. “Instead of targeting people who use marijuana, we can go after the drug companies that took advantage of working-class folks for profit.”
She added: “We can end broken-windows policing and rebuild the relationship between our communities, and the justice system that’s supposed to work for us. We can end cash bail, so that the rich and poor are held equal in the eyes of the law.”
Ms. Cabán could not be more ideologically different than Mr. Brown.
She is in favor of closing Rikers Island, but she does not support the plan to build new borough-based jails. She is in favor of ending the prosecution of drug use and supports fully decriminalizing prostitution, including for the clients. She is also a proponent of ending cash bail for all crimes.
Ms. Cabán has received endorsements from the Democratic Socialists of America, VOCAL-NY, Real Justice PAC and the Working Families Party, among others...
Ms. Cabán said she had spoken only once previously with Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, but it was clear that their values aligned when they spoke before the endorsement. “We talked about racial, social and economic justice,” said Ms. Cabán, who described Ms. Ocasio-Cortez as an inspiration.
“Having an example of a working-class Latina woman who made it work because the community rallied around her resonated with me, a queer Latina,” Ms. Cabán said. “I never thought in a million years I would have the privilege to run for office because the barriers seemed too great.”
Bruce Gyory, an adjunct professor of political science at the University at Albany, said that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement could be a game-changer[!]