Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has made her first endorsement for a 2020 House primary, and it’s for Marie Newman, the challenger to conservative Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski. Lipinski is a prime target for a progressive challenge, as an anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ politician who voted against the Affordable Care Act and refused to endorse Barack Obama for re-election in 2012 while representing a very blue Illinois district. Newman fell short of knocking Lipinski off in 2018, but she’s not giving up.
“Marie Newman is a textbook example of one of the ways that we could be better as a party—to come from a deep blue seat and to be championing all the issues we need to be championing,” Ocasio-Cortez told The New York Times. She said of Lipinski, “The fact that a deep blue seat is advocating for many parts of the Republican agenda is extremely problematic. We’re not talking about a swing state that is being forced to take tough votes.”
Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have endorsed Newman, who also has endorsements from EMILY’s List, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NARAL Pro-Choice America, MoveOn, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and Democracy for America.