AOC declines to endorse Hong in Wisconsin governor race, cites congressional priorities
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she is focused on winning back the House and Senate rather than endorsing in state races.
Conversation activity · last 24 hours peak 4/hr
Summary, timeline and people extracted by Claude from 13 items across 4 sources · 17h ago. Quotes are verbatim.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declined to endorse Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist candidate in the Wisconsin governor's race, stating her focus is on winning back Congress and the House. The decision prompted online discussion about AOC's past gubernatorial endorsements and whether progressives should prioritize electability over ideology in candidate selection.
- AOC cited focus on congressional races as reason for not endorsing Hong in the Wisconsin governor's race.
- Reddit discussion surfaced that AOC previously endorsed six gubernatorial candidates early in her political career, suggesting a strategic shift in endorsement approach.
- Online debate emerged about whether progressives should prioritize candidate electability or ideological alignment with democratic socialism.
- Broader frustration expressed with Democratic politicians' consultant-driven messaging and calls for more authentic leftist voices.
How it unfolded
-
Reaction Frustration with consultant-driven messaging
Reddit users express broader frustration with mainstream Democratic politicians using scripted, consultant-driven language, contrasting this with calls for authentic leftist voices.
“People are so sick and tired of watching liberal politicians say some meaningless nonsense that sounds like it was a script written in a room full of consultants.”
TryJezzoWhyNot · r/politics ↗ -
Reaction Commenter notes broader pattern of AOC non-endorsements
A Reddit user points out that AOC's non-endorsement of Hong is consistent with her refusal to endorse other DSA-style candidates, citing the example of Chakrabarti.
-
Reaction Debate over candidate viability vs. ideology
Reddit users debate whether progressives should prioritize electability or support candidates aligned with democratic socialist principles, with some arguing that prioritizing electability has produced poor results.
“We collectively have a weird expectation that everybody elected has to endorse everybody or else it is malicious and a conspiracy.”
Oceanbreeze871 · r/politics ↗ -
Analysis Broader pattern of AOC gubernatorial endorsements
A commenter documents that AOC previously endorsed six gubernatorial candidates (El-Sayed, Nixon, Jealous, Abrams, Gillum, Dalmau), mostly early in her political career, suggesting a shift in her endorsement strategy.
-
Reaction Redditors contextualize shift in priorities
Reddit commenters note that AOC's priorities have shifted since entering Congress, with progressives now focused on stabilizing the legislative body itself.
“yes before she hot her seat in congress. Priorities shift as currently progressives are trying to just get congress into some sort of workable state”
Tommybahamas_leftnut · r/politics ↗ -
Event AOC declines Hong endorsement
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez announced she has not endorsed Francesca Hong in the Wisconsin governor's race, saying her focus is on winning back Congress.
“I haven't endorsed in that race. My focus has been in winning back the Congress, winning back the House, and positioning ourselves to have the best chance possible to win the Senate”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez · Press ↗
What people are saying verbatim
“I haven't endorsed in that race. My focus has been in winning back the Congress, winning back the House, and positioning ourselves to have the best chance possible to win the Senate”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. Representative · The Hill ↗ · Aug 8
“yes before she hot her seat in congress. Priorities shift as currently progressives are trying to just get congress into some sort of workable state”
Tommybahamas_leftnut, Reddit commenter · Reddit ↗ · Aug 8
“We collectively have a weird expectation that everybody elected has to endorse everybody or else it is malicious and a conspiracy.”
Oceanbreeze871, Reddit commenter · Reddit ↗ · Aug 8
“Looks like she has endorsed six gubernatorial candidates previously, five of whom were in States not her own.”
Hilldawg4president, Reddit commenter · Reddit ↗ · Aug 8
“People are so sick and tired of watching liberal politicians say some meaningless nonsense that sounds like it was a script written in a room full of consultants.”
TryJezzoWhyNot, Reddit commenter · Reddit ↗ · Aug 8
“A new yorker coming into Wisconsin and telling Wisconsinites how they should govern things in Wisconsin would look fucking stupid.”
quickasafox777, Reddit commenter · Reddit ↗ · Aug 8
Voices from the web unedited
-
Your second point is so huge, it’s almost impossible to overstate it. People are so sick and tired of watching liberal politicians (I have no expectations from politicians on the right, so I’m not surprised or angry when they’re vapid and slimy) say some meaningless nonsense that sounds like it was a script written in a room full of consultants…
-
Looks like she has endorsed six gubernatorial candidates previously , five of whom were in States not her own. 2018 - EL-SAYED (MI) 2018 - Nixon (NY) 2018 - Jealous (MD) 2018 - ABRAMS (GA) 2018 - Gillum (FL) 2024 - Dalmau (PR) So most of them were when she was new on the scene and still herself running, with one in Puerto Rico just last cycle…
-
We’ve been predicating our primaries votes on electability for decades . The results have been disastrous. Let’s improve our odds and put our full support behind candidates like Hong, who are working class, are morally courageous, and have policy platforms that actually offer to decisively help constituents. Democratic socialism is a massive…
-
AOC didn't endorse any of the others. There is no focus on Hong here specifically. I have the exact same critcism of the multiple DSA style candidates that AOC has refused to endorse. One that comes to mind in particular is Chakrabarti, who AOC made a HUGE deal of not endorsing, and he ended up losing, and now we are stuck with an utterly ass…
-
What? She's a plant in the sense that the GOP is supporting her because they think she'll lose, that's why people should care, assuming you, you know, whan to win a general election. I hope you didn't interpret that as "she's a secret Republican bred in a dark cave under the GOP headquarters on K Street".
-
I know exactly what gubernatorial means, that's why I said it, lol. I did not mean "statewide" because she has endorsed many statewide candidates. She's endorsed El-Sayed, Mandela Barnes, and Ed Markey in key Senate primary races over the years, for example.
-
As others have pointed out, yes before she hot her seat in congress. Priorities shift as currently progressives are trying to just get congress into some sort of workable state vs the shit show its been for (insert however many years you wanna go back)
-
A new yorker coming into Wisconsin and telling Wisconsinites how they should govern things in Wisconsin would look fucking stupid.
-
We collectively have a weird expectation that everybody elected has to endorse everybody or else it is malicious and a conspiracy.