AOC Leads Primary, but Conservative NY Democrat Diaz May Not Be So Lucky

New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday night appeared to ace her first challenge since being elected in 2018. Ocasio-Cortez looked to be victorious over Melissa Caruso-Cabrera, a former CNBC journalist.

Ocasio-Cortez, 30, who is the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, may not be joined, however, by 77-year-old Ruben Diaz Sr., a conservative Trump-friendly Democrat, from the neighboring 15th congressional district who calls himself the "opposite of AOC."

"For everyone who has put in time to support, volunteer, or contribute—I cannot thank you enough," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Tuesday night.

While New York's results are not yet final because mail-in ballots had not been counted, Ocasio-Cortez appeared to be sweeping the 14th Congressional District race by 10 p.m. ET. Final results are not expected to be tabulated until at least June 30.

Diaz Sr., who had been favored in the unpredictable race, lingered far behind front-runner Ritchie Torres, who had much of the establishment Democrat support.

Caruso-Cabrera, who styled herself as MCC taking on AOC, tried to paint Ocasio-Cortez as a creature of Washington who wasn't spending enough time in the district. While Caruso-Cabrera pulled in $2 million, including from Wall Street figures, she was vastly outraised by Ocasio-Cortez, who brought in $10.5 million.

Caruso-Cabrera's campaign argued the Wall Street donations came because she was the pro-jobs candidate, while Ocasio-Cortez opposed Amazon building its new headquarters in Long Island City. A source at a Caruso-Cabrera fundraiser of Wall Street figures in February told Newsweek that Ocasio-Cortez's opposition to Amazon was one of the chief topics of conversation then.

However, efforts from the New York City financial world to oust Ocasio-Cortez only played to the progressive firebrand's advantage, and the victory cements the influential congresswoman's place as a leader on the left flank of the Democratic Party.

Ocasio-Cortez rose to prominence in 2018 after shocking the political class with an insurgent run that beat the fourth-most powerful Democrat in the House at the time, Joseph Crowley, who had all the establishment support.

In the 15th District race, Torres told Newsweek he was spending the day doing last-minute campaigning at subway stations and near the polls from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and then heading to a friend's house to watch the results come in with his inner circle.

Torres outraised the near-dozen candidates he faced, including Diaz Sr., and said he could beat the cowboy hat-wearing councilman in a one-on-one contest if many of the rest of the candidates dropped out, but they refused to do so.

Diaz Sr. did not speak to the press in the weeks leading up to the election, but he was spotted without a mask and with his arms around two men in late-May. Photos posted to Twitter showed him talking to a TV reporter and handing out food.