Could Ocasio-Cortez's Stunning Upset Signal Hope For Cynthia Nixon?
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Rep. Joe Crowley's stunning defeat by a Bernie Sanders progressive is raising questions about repercussions in the governor's race.
Democratic challenger Cynthia Nixon was probably the most famous person, political or otherwise, at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's victory party -- attaching her political star to a rising star and attempted to use her upset defeat as a weapon in her own race against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, CBS2's Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported.
To many, it was intriguing, leading to lots of speculation and the reading of bushels of political tea leaves and lots of questions, like what effect the vote in District 14 in Queens the Bronx, which is 50 percent Hispanic, will have on the Democratic gubernatorial primary, where the latest poll has Cuomo ahead of Nixon by 35 points: 61 to 26.
More: 28-Year-Old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Stuns Rep. Joseph Crowley In Congressional Primary
So does Nixon have a shot?
"Many will think Cynthia Nixon has a shot, because of the great upset yesterday with Joe Crowley's defeat. Does she? It all depends who turns out," said political consultant Hank Sheinkoph. "If the left can turn out a vote and they can move the gov. to the right, they got a shot. The question is: Can they do that?"
Team Cuomo claims the outcome is the result of redistricting – changing demographics that changed the ethnic makeup of Crowley's district.
"Eighty percent people of color, 50 percent Hispanic, many of them, as new voters in particular, saw in Miss Ocasio-Cortez a candidate who spoke their language and reflected their demographic," Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, of the Bronx, said.
Kramer asked the governor whether he thinks Nixon can capitalize on the outcome of the Crowley race.
"I think it's apples and oranges," he replied. "This was a minority community, largely, that is afraid, that is angry, and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez did a good job of connecting with."
Nixon, however, sees it differently. She hopes she can do to Cuomo what Ocasio-Cortez did to Crowley.
"When you give Democrats a choice in a primary, they're going to go for the progressive," she said.
Political consultants say in the end, it will all come down to turnout -- who can get their voters to the polls, and which voters are energized. That's hard to tell right now, because the primary isn't until September.
