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Ocasio-Cortez Attacks Crowley Over His ‘Third-Party Challenge’

NEW YORK — So will Rep. Joseph Crowley remain on the ballot in November, and challenge Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a third-party candidate on the Working Families Party?

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By
Lisa W. Foderaro
, New York Times

NEW YORK — So will Rep. Joseph Crowley remain on the ballot in November, and challenge Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a third-party candidate on the Working Families Party?

That question, raised in an article in The New York Times about third-party politics in New York, took on a life of its own Thursday morning, as Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to complain about Crowley — with the longtime congressman quickly responding.

Ocasio-Cortez, 28, wrote on Twitter that Crowley “stood me up for all 3 scheduled concession calls. Now, he’s mounting a 3rd party challenge against me and the Democratic Party — and against the will of @NYWFP.”

Bill Lipton, state director of the Working Families Party, said he reached out to the Crowley campaign immediately after Ocasio-Cortez’s upset victory.

The party wanted to put her on its line in November, and had asked Crowley to vacate the line by running for another office that he had no intention of occupying and little chance of winning, whether a county clerkship or state legislative post. But Lipton said the Crowley campaign declined to work with them on the maneuver.

It did not take long for Crowley to respond. In the first of three Twitter posts, he wrote, “Alexandria, the race is over and Democrats need to come together. I’ve made my support for you clear and the fact that I’m not running. We’ve scheduled phone calls and your team has not followed through.”

As for the fact that his name will remain on the ballot in the November, Crowley wrote in a second Twitter post that there are “lots of questions about WFP line,” adding that he was “honored to have their support.” But, he added, “for record you can only be removed from the ballot if 1) you move out of NY; 2) die; 3) be convicted of a crime; 4) accept a nomination for another office (in a place I don’t live).”

There are no residency requirements, however, for some offices, and election lawyers say Crowley could put his name in nomination for any number of positions.

Crowley concluded: “I don’t plan on moving out of New York, have a clean record, hope God’s will is that I don’t die, and won’t commit what I honestly believe to be election fraud.”

The heated exchange was the first break in what had appeared to be a remarkably genial relationship; hours after Ocasio-Cortez shocked the political world by beating the 10-term Democratic incumbent, Crowley led his band through a credible version of a Bruce Springsteen song, dedicating it to her.

But Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez seemed to suggest that the dedication rang hollow.

In a follow-up Twitter post, she wrote, “So much for ‘Born to Run.'”

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