AOC endorses – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., endorsed Tennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson in the 9th Congressional District on Thursday, delivering a major boost to a race Democrats view as especially difficult after Republicans redrew the seat earlier this year
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., kept a low profile in a series of competitive congressional primaries in her home state this week—then stepped into a tight fight in Tennessee.
On Thursday, she endorsed Justin J. Pearson, a Tennessee state representative running in the 9th Congressional District. Democrats see the district as an uphill battle. especially after Republicans redrew it earlier this year at President Donald Trump’s demand. aiming to blunt what many Republicans see as the increasingly likely prospect that they will lose both congressional chambers to Democrats in November. The 9th District covers parts of Memphis and its suburbs. and it was redrawn in a broader wave of Republican map changes—moves that came after the Supreme Court gutted a key portion of the Voting Rights Act.
For progressive insurgents. Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement often functions like permission slip—something Democratic voters. activists. and national groups look for when they want to challenge incumbents or seize open seats. Pearson is no exception. He’s backed by Justice Democrats, the progressive group that first backed Ocasio-Cortez in 2018 against longtime incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley, and he is also backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Pearson’s campaign began with a different target. He originally launched his effort aiming to oust two-decade incumbent Rep. Steve Cohen, the last remaining Democrat in Tennessee’s congressional delegation. But Cohen dropped out in May after state lawmakers split up his district into three neighboring districts. saying it was “drawn to beat” him.
The timing of Ocasio-Cortez’s intervention in Tennessee also sharpened attention on her earlier choices in New York. Observers had questioned why she stayed out of key congressional primaries there. opting instead to endorse a slate of democratic socialist candidates in the state Assembly. Critics raised eyebrows at what they saw as a decision to avoid New York’s congressional contests. even as she had endorsed a string of Democratic primary candidates for open seats in other states this cycle: Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania. Analilia Mejia in New Jersey. and Junaid Ahmed in Illinois—where Ahmed lost his primary.
Her New York choices sparked competing theories. Some argued she was trying not to clash with Democratic Party leaders, who had backed challengers against leftist candidates. Others suggested she was coordinating with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to maximize what the left could win at a moment marked by aggressive outside spending against their candidates.
On Tuesday, Mamdani emerged as a kingmaker in the city’s primaries, backing three congressional candidates who won: socialists Clare Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, and progressive Brad Lander. Several—though not all—of the New York City DSA’s endorsed candidates also won.
In the days around those contests. Ocasio-Cortez described the left’s victories as part of “a moment” and “a movement” of voters demanding more from the Democratic Party after major losses in 2024. Still. endorsing in the congressional races would have placed her in a different kind of bind: it would have meant weighing support in contests against her own congressional colleagues. including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. who is poised to become House speaker if Democrats retake the chamber in November.
She has continued to focus much of her endorsement activity this cycle on open seats without an incumbent—Rabb. Mejia. Ahmed. Adelita Grijalva in Arizona. Adam Hamawy in New Jersey. and Sam Forstag in Montana. She endorsed Democratic candidate Randy Villegas against incumbent Republican Rep. David Valadao in California. She also faced a backlash connected to her failure to endorse her former chief of staff. Saikat Chakrabarti. in a California primary to replace retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Chakrabarti’s loss in that open-seat race came. her former staffer argued. after opponents attacked him and her absence likely fueled those attacks.
In New York City, the political friction was plain even when left-backed candidates won. Avila Chevalier and Lander ousted incumbents backed by Jeffries and Democratic leaders: Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat and Rep. Dan Goldman. Valdez won her primary in an open seat where retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez had endorsed her preferred successor, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. Velázquez publicly bemoaned Mamdani’s endorsement of Valdez against her pick in the months leading up to the race. Even after Mamdani’s allies won their primaries. Jeffries and other party leaders expressed disappointment in Mamdani’s decision to go against them.
In Tennessee. Pearson’s path to the ballot changed dramatically after Cohen exited the race in May. leaving the district’s dynamics to be reshaped not only by map changes tied to the Voting Rights Act ruling but also by a sudden opening in the incumbent’s seat. Pearson is now hoping to draw on voters’ frustrations with both parties. pitching “economic change for the working class”—a message that Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders have emphasized this cycle.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez AOC Justin J. Pearson Tennessee 9th District Voting Rights Act Supreme Court gerrymandered district Justice Democrats Bernie Sanders Zohran Mamdani Hakeem Jeffries