AOC riles Dems by refusing to pay party dues, bankrolling colleagues' opponents
By Marisa Schultz | Fox News
EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has already topped the fundraising charts in her short time in Congress, but the liberal darling won’t donate a cent of her millions to Democrats' House campaign organization -- a position that has rankled some of her colleagues, Fox News has learned.
Instead, Ocasio-Cortez is building her own fundraising operation for fellow progressive candidates to bypass the official Democratic Party infrastructure. Already, she's actively funding primary challengers to oust certain Democratic colleagues.
“Sometimes the question comes: 'Do you want to be in a majority or do you want to be in the minority?'” Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., told Fox News, when asked about AOC's stance. “And do you want to be part of a team?"
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairwoman Cheri Bustos downplayed Ocasio-Cortez’s decision to shun dues and pointed to the record-breaking fundraising numbers the committee has notched without her.
“That's always up to individual members so I guess I don't think about it one way or another,” Bustos said when asked about Ocasio-Cortez's stance. “We’re raising record amounts of money from our members.”
The DCCC declined to comment further on the matter of Ocasio-Cortez and her dues.
Another Democrat was less diplomatic: “Deadbeat Cortez should pay her bills,” complained the Democratic source. “She’s always whining about people paying their fair share and here she is leaving her friends with the bill.”
Their gripe is that Ocasio-Cortez hasn’t given any money to the DCCC, the party arm with the sole job of electing Democrats to the House. Records obtained by Fox News show the New York Democrat has failed to pay any of her $250,000 in “dues” to the DCCC.
Her goose egg of a contribution is no accident. Ocasio-Cortez says she has beef with the DCCC and she'll withhold her money in protest of how the Democratic Party won't back insurgent progressive primary candidates, like herself, in the name of protecting incumbents.
“For me personally, I’m not paying D-trip dues,” said Ocasio-Cortez, using slang for the DCCC and citing a “myriad of reasons.”
“One, I don’t agree with the policy around blacklisting groups that help progressive candidates,” she said, referring to a DCCC effort to sideline vendors who assist challengers to members of Congress. “I think we need to evolve as a party and make room for that.”
Instead, Ocasio-Cortez is ramping up her donor base with the help of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., whom she endorsed for president in October, to funnel money directly to progressive candidates.
Through social media posts and email solicitations, she's activated her donor network to support her hand-picked candidates. In 2019 alone, she funneled more than $300,000 to candidates she’s endorsed by hosting online fundraising campaigns for them, according to records obtained by Fox News.
“I want to help frontline members by putting that money straight into their pocket,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Bucking the Democratic Party line, Ocasio-Cortez led online fundraisers for at least two progressives who are trying to defeat sitting Democratic members of Congress.
She solicited nearly $18,000 in donations for Marie Newman, who is taking on current Illinois Rep. Dan Lipinski, a conservative Democrat who opposes abortion. She also gave Newman an additional $5,000 directly from her campaign account. Ocasio-Cortez also raised nearly $35,000 in online donations for progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros, who is trying to defeat Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.
“Certainly, these are new times,” Cuellar said of his colleague's effort to oust him, “which is something that we certainly don't agree with.”
Cuellar said Democrats should be focused on the larger goal of beating Republicans and retaining the House majority. “To have people try to purify the caucus because they don't agree with them – 100 percent, I certainly don't agree with that.”
“Hopefully, we will start to get away from this circular firing squad," said Cuellar, who paid all his dues to the DCCC, records show.
Ocasio-Cortez views herself as a vehicle to help candidates who wouldn’t ordinarily have access to DCCC resources and “to really bring in people from outside the traditional political process,” she said.
But she does support some colleagues: “I’m happy to support some incumbents, but it’s not just a blanket rule."
In one online appeal, Ocasio-Cortez urged her supporters to back “bold swing district Democrats” by donating to Rep. Mike Levin from California, Rep. Jahana Hayes of Connecticut, and Rep. Katie Hill (before she resigned from Congress amid a throuple sex scandal with a staffer).
AOC's supporters pitched in $38,000 for Levin and $35,500 Hayes -- both frontline DCCC members in competitive districts.
Other beneficiaries of her online campaigns include Sanders (nearly $36,000) and fellow liberal squad members Reps. Rashida Tlaib (about $10,000), Ilhan Omar ($29,000) and Ayanna Pressley ($3,800).
Ocasio-Cortez gained nationwide fame when the former bartender from the Bronx upset powerful 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., in the 2018 primary. Now at just 30 years old, the Democratic socialist has turned into a fundraising juggernaut.
In the third quarter of 2019, she raised $1.42 million -- more than any other House Democrat. She beat out top Democrats like Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff by rejecting corporate PAC dollars and traditional high-dollar fundraisers and instead relying on grassroots small-dollar fans who are rooting for the young pol and her unapologetic fight for progressive ideals, like the Green New Deal.
Her fourth-quarter fundraising is even bigger. Her campaign nearly hit its goal of raising $2 million in the final three months of 2019 from online donors from every state. That amount puts her 2019 fundraising at more than $5 million, a groundbreaking amount for the youngest female ever elected to Congress.
By Marisa Schultz | Fox News
EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has already topped the fundraising charts in her short time in Congress, but the liberal darling won’t donate a cent of her millions to Democrats' House campaign organization -- a position that has rankled some of her colleagues, Fox News has learned.
Instead, Ocasio-Cortez is building her own fundraising operation for fellow progressive candidates to bypass the official Democratic Party infrastructure. Already, she's actively funding primary challengers to oust certain Democratic colleagues.
“Sometimes the question comes: 'Do you want to be in a majority or do you want to be in the minority?'” Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., told Fox News, when asked about AOC's stance. “And do you want to be part of a team?"
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairwoman Cheri Bustos downplayed Ocasio-Cortez’s decision to shun dues and pointed to the record-breaking fundraising numbers the committee has notched without her.
“That's always up to individual members so I guess I don't think about it one way or another,” Bustos said when asked about Ocasio-Cortez's stance. “We’re raising record amounts of money from our members.”
The DCCC declined to comment further on the matter of Ocasio-Cortez and her dues.
Another Democrat was less diplomatic: “Deadbeat Cortez should pay her bills,” complained the Democratic source. “She’s always whining about people paying their fair share and here she is leaving her friends with the bill.”
Their gripe is that Ocasio-Cortez hasn’t given any money to the DCCC, the party arm with the sole job of electing Democrats to the House. Records obtained by Fox News show the New York Democrat has failed to pay any of her $250,000 in “dues” to the DCCC.
Her goose egg of a contribution is no accident. Ocasio-Cortez says she has beef with the DCCC and she'll withhold her money in protest of how the Democratic Party won't back insurgent progressive primary candidates, like herself, in the name of protecting incumbents.
“For me personally, I’m not paying D-trip dues,” said Ocasio-Cortez, using slang for the DCCC and citing a “myriad of reasons.”
“One, I don’t agree with the policy around blacklisting groups that help progressive candidates,” she said, referring to a DCCC effort to sideline vendors who assist challengers to members of Congress. “I think we need to evolve as a party and make room for that.”
Instead, Ocasio-Cortez is ramping up her donor base with the help of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., whom she endorsed for president in October, to funnel money directly to progressive candidates.
Through social media posts and email solicitations, she's activated her donor network to support her hand-picked candidates. In 2019 alone, she funneled more than $300,000 to candidates she’s endorsed by hosting online fundraising campaigns for them, according to records obtained by Fox News.
“I want to help frontline members by putting that money straight into their pocket,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Bucking the Democratic Party line, Ocasio-Cortez led online fundraisers for at least two progressives who are trying to defeat sitting Democratic members of Congress.
She solicited nearly $18,000 in donations for Marie Newman, who is taking on current Illinois Rep. Dan Lipinski, a conservative Democrat who opposes abortion. She also gave Newman an additional $5,000 directly from her campaign account. Ocasio-Cortez also raised nearly $35,000 in online donations for progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros, who is trying to defeat Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.
“Certainly, these are new times,” Cuellar said of his colleague's effort to oust him, “which is something that we certainly don't agree with.”
Cuellar said Democrats should be focused on the larger goal of beating Republicans and retaining the House majority. “To have people try to purify the caucus because they don't agree with them – 100 percent, I certainly don't agree with that.”
“Hopefully, we will start to get away from this circular firing squad," said Cuellar, who paid all his dues to the DCCC, records show.
Ocasio-Cortez views herself as a vehicle to help candidates who wouldn’t ordinarily have access to DCCC resources and “to really bring in people from outside the traditional political process,” she said.
But she does support some colleagues: “I’m happy to support some incumbents, but it’s not just a blanket rule."
In one online appeal, Ocasio-Cortez urged her supporters to back “bold swing district Democrats” by donating to Rep. Mike Levin from California, Rep. Jahana Hayes of Connecticut, and Rep. Katie Hill (before she resigned from Congress amid a throuple sex scandal with a staffer).
AOC's supporters pitched in $38,000 for Levin and $35,500 Hayes -- both frontline DCCC members in competitive districts.
Other beneficiaries of her online campaigns include Sanders (nearly $36,000) and fellow liberal squad members Reps. Rashida Tlaib (about $10,000), Ilhan Omar ($29,000) and Ayanna Pressley ($3,800).
Ocasio-Cortez gained nationwide fame when the former bartender from the Bronx upset powerful 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., in the 2018 primary. Now at just 30 years old, the Democratic socialist has turned into a fundraising juggernaut.
In the third quarter of 2019, she raised $1.42 million -- more than any other House Democrat. She beat out top Democrats like Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff by rejecting corporate PAC dollars and traditional high-dollar fundraisers and instead relying on grassroots small-dollar fans who are rooting for the young pol and her unapologetic fight for progressive ideals, like the Green New Deal.
Her fourth-quarter fundraising is even bigger. Her campaign nearly hit its goal of raising $2 million in the final three months of 2019 from online donors from every state. That amount puts her 2019 fundraising at more than $5 million, a groundbreaking amount for the youngest female ever elected to Congress.
