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- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will endorse her first 2020 House Democratic challenger on Tuesday, The New York Times reported.
- The progressive New Yorker will throw her support behind Marie Newman, an Illinois businesswoman, in her bid to unseat Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski, a conservative House Democrat.
- "Mary Newman is a textbook example of one of the ways we could be better off – we are going to win the championship," Ocasio-Cortez told The Times.
- Newman came within two points of ousting Lipinski, who occupied a deep blue Chicago-area seat, in the 2018 primary.
- Newman's already been born by an array of powerful progressive leaders, including two presidential candidates – Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren- as well as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and California Rep. Ro Khanna.
- Still, it's rare for Democrats to help them in their own party – and the Democratic Party has already broken down on this year's primary challengers.
- The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the party 's campaign arm, announced that it will not be possible to run a campaign against political parties.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will endorse her first 2020 House Democratic primary challenger on Tuesday, the New York Times reported.
The progressive New Yorker will support Marie Newman, Illinois businesswoman, in her bid to unseat Rep. Dan Lipinski, a conservative House Democrat whose opposition to abortion, the Affordable Care Act, and gay marriage – among others – have made him unpopular with progressive.
Newman, who lost his first primary against Lipinski by just two points in 2018, is a more progressive alternative for a district that went to Hillary Clinton by 15 points in 2016.
"Marie Newman is a textbook example of one of the ways we could be better off – we're going to win a champion," Ocasio-Cortez told the Times.
The Bronx native argued Lipinski's conservative positions on key issues are "extremely problematic" in a deep blue district. (Sen. Bernie Sanders won the district by nine points in the 2016 presidential primary.)
"The fact that the Republican is deeply problematic," she told The Times. "We're not talking about a swing that's being forced to take tough votes."
Read more: The Democratic Party is cracking down on candidates who hope to be next Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and progressive are fighting back
And the congresswoman said she will not weigh in on primaries in competitive purple districts.
"If we're going to make these changes, they need to come from safe blue seats," she said.
Lipinksi defended his record as a Blue Dog Democrat in a statement to Insider earlier this year.
"I have been a prominent democratic leader who has brought people together to solve problems," the congressman said in an April statement. "Voters in the Third District have gone to Washington to be an effective legislator, not to be ineffective show horse."
New Democrats, the progressive group that powered Ocasio-Cortez's insurgent primary campaign in 2018. And the candidate has already been endorsed by an array of powerful progressive leaders, including two presidential candidates – Sens. Sanders and Elizabeth Warren-Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and California Rep. Ro Khanna.
Still, it's rare for Democrats – particularly prominent and mainstream figures – to help others in their own party.
The Democratic Party is cracking down on the Democratic primary challengers this cycle. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the party's campaign arm, announced in late March that it will no longer work with political strategists and vendors that support candidates running against sitting Democrats.
The new rule elicited backlash from Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives, who will it hurt first-time candidates, particularly women and people of color. Ocasio-Cortez called the move "extremely divisive" and urged her supporters to "break" their financial support of the DCCC.
Read more: Elizabeth Warren endorsed two left-wing primary challengers to House Democrats. It could be a risky play to win Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's endorsement.
Newman said the rule forced to abandon this year. She celebrated Ocasio-Cortez's endorsement and told The Times her campaign is about "putting someone in a position that is in alignment with the district," said Green New Deal.
Justice Democrats executive director Alexandra Rojas describes the endorsement as a win for the "movement to make the Democratic Party fight for solutions as big as the problems we face and create a party of voters, not corporate donors."
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