On June 26th of 2018, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) defeated Joe Crowley to become the current representative of New York’s 14th District. This is widely considered to be one of the biggest upset victories of the 2018 Midterm Elections. Since then, AOC has put forth a number of Congressional actions, and she has become one of the biggest targets of right wing media. Today she is one of the most polarizing names throughout the entire country, and she has become the new face of the Democratic Socialist party. However, she’s never had to face off against a voice of opposition, ultimately because the Republican party didn’t put forth a candidate. However, a Republican immigrant from Jamaica named Scherie Murray announced that she would be running for office on July 10th of 2019. Murray is one of many GOP candidates that have announced their campaign, prompting an interesting road to follow.

Joe Crowley was a ten term incumbent and Congressman in the Democrat Caucus chair who AOC managed to beat by a landslide. This was mainly because Crowley neglected to anticipate the debating power of such a young opponent. Because the Republican party did not bother to put a candidate forward to challenge her, she won the seat without any Republican competition. In other words, she managed to win off of a 14% approval rating. This is concerning because she has never debated anybody of a differing viewpoint, yet she has her share of appearances on liberal podcasts and left-wing television outlets. She even turned down an invitation from Ben Shapiro after he pledged to donate $10,000 to her campaign if she took the podium at Politicon 2018, which is why many people across the country are looking forward to seeing her face off against a Republican candidate come 2020.

AOC has been one of the most ambitious politicians speaking out against capitalism and praising socialistic programs, particularly current programs in other countries. One of the most noteworthy was her release of the Green New Deal, a bill initially endorsed by several Democratic candidates running in the 2020 presidential election. The bill called for every building in America to be “rebuilt,” air travel to be replaced by high speed railways, and the retrofitting of every car in America, all for the purpose of addressing environmental concern. All of this is made possible by technology better for the environment and the future of the planet. However, the technology does not exist yet, making the majority of the bill unrealistic in today’s society.

AOC wrote that: her plan would not only provide a high wage federal job for anyone who wants one, but also a basic income for anyone unable or unwilling to work. The next day, her top policy advisor Robert Hockett claimed on the evening broadcast of Tucker Carlson Tonight that AOC never pushed anything like this and Tucker was looking at a doctored version. This statement caught the attention of the entire political arena, and most importantly, the eye of those whom she represents. This, combined with other questionable actions on her part, have led to her approval rating taking a nosedive. Once Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnel announced the bill would be put to a vote in the senate, Democrat candidates took a step back, including the DNC candidates who initially endorsed the bill. The Senate voted 0-57 against the bill, and many of the DNC candidates voted present, in other words, they opted not to vote.

Running on the Republican side is Scherie Murray; an American Jamaican immigrant and entrepreneur. She has been quoted saying : “NY-14 has a problem, and it’s called AOC.” In her run for Congress she joins four other Republicans who have entered the race. Other candidates include former police officer and government teacher, John Cummings, construction contractor, Miguel Hernandez, medical journalist, Ruth Papazian, and entrepreneur, Antoine Tucker. “After announcing her campaign, murray’s first statement on the fox news evening broadcast of hannity, points out AOC’s decision to push Amazon out of NY-14.” This led to a loss of 25,000 possible jobs, which caused a dive in her approval rating, particularly in the Bronx. Though this district has historically been Democratic, many people on both sides have not appreciated the policies put forward by AOC and her staff. A new poll done by a student activist with the Washington Examiner shows that less than 22% favor her and her policies, 33.44% of the people questioned pledged to oppose her in the 2020 election, while only 13.3% pledged to vote for her, and 53.26% remained unsure of how they would vote in the next election.

Many people within NY-14 have pledged against her in the next election, and regardless of political opinions, your vote doesn’t matter in the least unless you live in Queens. Though it is a historically democratic district, many people there are ready for something new after 10 years of Crowley and a year of Ocasio-Cortez. Not only are they looking for a new representative, but likely someone aligned with the GOP. AOC has focused her campaign on the misogyny and racism of the Republican party, so it will be a difficult challenge facing off against a Republican, Jamaican immigrant who believes in a free market system.