Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was removed from the primary ballot of the progressive group Working Families Party, after coming up two signatures shy, according to the New York Daily News.
The union-supported group, which calls itself the "Tea Party of the left," is an independent political party that allows votes across ballot lines to keep Democrats honest and to avoid having their vote taken for granted.
Ocasio-Cortez received only 13 signatures from members of the WFP, keeping her off the group's ballot line in the November general election. Her Democrat opponent is former CNBC contributor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, who thinks AOC cannot relate to the working-class people in her district.
"AOC has hurt working people of the Bronx and Queens with her votes and creates disunity within our party," Caruso-Cabrera told the New York Daily News. "No wonder why pro-union forces don't want her, and neither do our neighborhoods."
In the 2016 election, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was backed by the WFP, which he called "the closest thing" to "my vision of democratic socialism."
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reduced the number of signatures required to qualify for the primary ballot to 15. After Ocasio-Cortez submitted only 14 signatures, one was thrown out because it was cast by a registered Democrat.
Officials in the Working Families Party have promised they will campaign for Ocasio-Cortez despite her removal from the ballot.
"We believe the congresswoman is the leader her district and this country needs," said Sochie Nnaemeka, director of the state party, who decried petition challenges amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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