AOC targets vulnerable New York House Republicans ahead of speaker vote for Jim Jordan

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) pointed her finger at fellow New York House lawmakers ahead of an expected vote to elect Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) as speaker, asking whether the Republicans from her state in the chamber will “actually vote to install a man who voted to overturn the United States’s election.”

Ocasio-Cortez told CNN she had no regrets in voting to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the position, adding, “It has never been, truly, within the integrity and history of this institution for one party to elect another party’s member as speaker.”

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“We’ll see if Jim Jordan has the votes,” the New York progressive lawmaker said before turning her attention to House Republicans from her state. “We’ll see if individuals like Mike Lawler or Marc Molinaro who represent New Yorkers … will actually vote to install a man who voted to overturn the United States’s election and who supports a national abortion ban to be speaker of the House, second in line to the presidency.”

Every single Democrat present voted to remove McCarthy as speaker earlier this month, which, along with eight Republicans, proved to be enough to oust him from the position in a historic decision.

Jordan has the support of the vast majority of House Republicans to be speaker, but he left a closed-door conference Monday night still without the votes necessary to become speaker, setting up a big day on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

While Ocasio-Cortez is clearly opposed to Jordan leading the chamber, should he prove to be successful with the help of House Republicans from her state, she appears poised to turn her ire toward them.

“I have my doubts that the people of New York would really stand for that,” she said regarding whether lawmakers such as Lawler and Molinaro vote in favor of Jordan. “But in terms of the integrity of the institution, I think it’s important that we support Hakeem Jeffries for speaker of the House.” Democrats have unanimously voted to make the House minority leader their nominee.

New York, traditionally a Democratic stronghold, lost several key races in the 2022 midterm elections. The Republican wins in the Empire State helped the GOP secure control over the House of Representatives.

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Lawler and Molinaro are in vulnerable districts that could be flipped in 2024, something Ocasio-Cortez likely knows. House Democrats have launched a campaign to put Republicans in swing districts in the hot seat ahead of the speaker vote.

Using X’s (formerly Twitter) quote function to add onto the video of her speaking to CNN, the New York Democrat wrote a call to action, saying, “If you do not want your GOP Representative to support Jim Jordan for Speaker, you should call them within the next 24 hours.” She then provided a link “for help with finding your Representative and knowing how to call/leave a VM, and what to say.”