Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, said this week that she ranked the New York City mayoral candidate who had been accused of sexual misconduct as her second choice in Tuesday’s Democratic mayoral primary.
Ocasio-Cortez endorsed leftist Maya Wiley as her top choice but said Scott Stringer, the city’s comptroller, as her next choice because of his policy platform.
“Here’s the deal. This race, I think, has been really all over the place for a lot of people, to say the least. And so I do think it’s been hard for folks to rank,” she said during a radio interview. “I personally have ranked Scott Stringer No. 2, and I think he’s also a really strong candidate from a policy perspective.”
New York City has a ranked choice ballot process, in which voters can rank up to five candidates in order of preference.
In April, a woman named Jean Kim, who said she was an unpaid during Stringer’s bid for public advocate, accused Stringer of “repeatedly groping” her, “putting his hands on her thighs and between her legs,” and “demanding to know why [she] wouldn’t have sex with him.”
Stringer acknowledged having a “relationship” with Kim but claimed it was consensual.
“I believe it was a mutual, consensual relationship. I never used any force, made any threats, or did any of the things that are alleged,” he said.
Ocasio-Cortez did not address Kim’s allegations against Stringer, even though she has been a vocal supporter of the #MeToo movement.
Her first choice, Wiley, is considered the most left-wing candidate in the Democratic mayoral primary.
Ocasio-Cortez said she backed Wiley not only because of her leftist policies, but also because she is not backed by “dark money.”
“She has a strong progressive policy but also, I think that it’s really important to have a mayor that’s going to be really receptive to people actually calling and advocating for themselves,” she claimed.
