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A Democratic House hopeful vying for one of the nation’s most competitive districts is staying silent after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., voiced support for her campaign.
Ocasio-Cortez, a leftist firebrand with growing influence in the Democratic Party, congratulated former Biden administration official Cait Conley on her primary victory in a social media post Wednesday.
“I look forward to working together as a delegation as we fight for working families across New York,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.
The post also celebrated a Democrat vying to succeed retiring Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., alongside three socialist candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
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Brad Lander, former New York City comptroller and U.S. House candidate, stands with Zohran Mamdani, New York mayor, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont, at a Get Out The Vote rally at Kings Theater in Brooklyn on June 18, 2026. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Conley has yet to comment on Ocasio-Cortez’s support or address the trio of far-left candidates — longtime New York official Brad Lander, State Assembly member Claire Valdez, D-N.Y., and activist Darializa Avila-Chevalier — who have called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), are outspoken critics of Israel and have vowed to advance the Palestinian cause in Congress.
Conley’s general election opponent, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., insists she should have to answer for it.
“Which is it, Cait: do you reject AOC and the candidates who want to abolish ICE, defund the police, and tear down our borders, or do you embrace them?” Lawler campaign manager Ciro Riccardi said in a statement to Digital.
“The Hudson Valley deserves an answer, and so far all we’ve heard is your damning silence,” he continued.
Lander and Avila-Chevalier previously called for defunding the police, while the latter has continued to advocate for abolishing prisons and stopping all deportations. Avila-Chevalier also reposted a tweet denying Israel’s right to exist and helped form a pro-Palestinian group at Columbia University that called for “the total eradication of Western civilization.”
The three Mamdani-backed candidates are expected to double the ranks of the left-wing group known as “the Squad,” an informal bloc closely aligned with Ocasio-Cortez, who also supports abolishing ICE.
Digital reached out to the Conley campaign for comment.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a leader of the Democratic Party’s leftist flank, voiced support for Democratic House candidate Cait Conley after she won a contested primary Tuesday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
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The scrutiny comes after Conley avoided criticizing the socialist candidates during an interview with MS NOW on Thursday.
Asked about socialist candidates who support prison abolition and have suggested the United States deserved 9/11, Conley talked about her own background rather than directly addressing the question.
“I joined the Army and went to West Point because of 9/11 because I watched the suffering and pain that we as a nation, we as a state, we as the Hudson Valley, experienced that day,” Conley said. “And so when you talk about the American government’s responsibility to the people, it is to keep it safe.”
“While, you know, folks were elected down in New York City, in New York-17, Democratic voters chose a West Point grad and 16-year Army combat veteran to be their representative in this fight this fall,” Conley added, referring to herself.
Aber Kawas, a socialist and pro-Palestinian activist who won a Democratic primary for a New York State Senate seat Tuesday, appeared to justify 9/11 in a resurfaced 2017 video.
Conley has previously faced scrutiny over her role on former President Joe Biden’s national security team. Lawler has argued that she downplayed her alleged involvement in the former president’s botched 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, which coincided with her time on the National Security Council.
The battleground race is expected to be one of the most hotly-contested races in the country, with national Republicans expected to aggressively defend Lawler’s bid for a third House term.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., leaves the U.S. Capitol after the last vote of the week on Jan. 9, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
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The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the contest as a “toss-up” after shifting the race in favor of Democrats earlier this year.
In 2024, former Vice President Kamala Harris narrowly won the purple district, where Democrats hold a sizable voter registration advantage.
