Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has recruited an unidentified woman to challenge Rep. Hakeem Jeffries D-N.Y., in his 2020 primary, Politico is reporting.
Jeffries was recently elected to chair the Democratic Caucus – the number five House Democratic leadership post, according to Politico. Some Democrats have been concerned by Jeffries. They believe he takes too much money from corporate interests, the website noted.
A source tells Politico that Ocasio-Cortez has called Jeffries the “highest priority” primary target for her.
“It’s personal for Ocasio,” said the person who spoke with her. "And she’s going to go all out to take him out.”
But Ocasio-Cortez’s spokesman Corbin Trent denied she has already recruited someone to run against Jeffries.
“We’re not looking at recruiting people to run campaigns, we’re looking at building a congressional staff," Trent. said.
But he added: “We’re disappointed in the way that the leadership elections went down, specifically that leadership election," said Trent. "We would have liked to have seen that be a more fair fight with less pressure."
Meanwhile, Jeffries, responding to a possible challenge, said: “It’s a free country and democracy is a beautiful thing.”
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