New York businesswoman, Scherie Murray, announced Wednesday that she is running for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s congressional seat in 2020.
What We Know:
- Murray, who immigrated from Jamaica to New York when she was 9, stated in a series of tweets announcing her run that AOC was more “worried about being famous” than representing her constituents. She also stated that AOC “seeks celebrity & publicity” and “thinks public service is not about serving the public, but herself.”
- While Murray stated that she has experience building relationships between the community and those who represent them, she stated that AOC was in favor of using conflict instead. The example she used was the recent move AOC had in leading Amazon to abandon its plans to build a second headquarters in New York.
- Ocasio-Cortez has been the center of attention in the Democratic Party as of late, for better or for worse. She is often portrayed as the face of a leftward shift in the Democratic Party for her stance as a “self-described democratic socialist.”
- Murray made an unsuccessful run in a special election for a New York Assembly seat in 2015, losing by more than 85 percentage points and in 2013, she lost with a similar margin for a seat in the New York City Council.
- Murray is now the fourth person to challenge AOC for her seat, including former police officer John Cummings, journalist Ruth Papazian and building superintendent Miguel Hernandez.
This battle is only getting started.
