Queens Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Maya Wiley for mayor of New York Cit♊y during ☂a press conference outside City Hall on Saturday.
“The stakes could not be highe♏r. We can’t be playing games. We can’t be sitting on the sidelines,” AOC said during the surprise announcement. “I am putting Maya Numbeꦆr 1.”
In her remarks, Ocasio-Cortez cꦰited Wiley’s “experience” and a “lifetime of dedication” t🏅o social justice.
She was joined at the event by Jumaane Willಌiams and Brad Lander, whꦓo she is backing for public advocate and comptroller respectively.
“Nobody says change like @AOC And with AOC’s help we are going to win this race and bring the change we need to the city we love,” Wiley, 57, moments after the endorsement.
AOC’s backing is a coup for Wiley, a former New School professor and former counsel to Mayor de Blasio, and raises the distinct possibility of energizing her progressive campaign, which has fallen behind more centrist frontrunners like Eric Adams, Andrew Yang and Kathryn Garcia.
Recent polls have shown Adams and Yang neck and neck in the race, while others have Garcia out in front.
Rivals pounced just minutes after the endorsement, warning Wiley’s approach would be dangerous as the city faces a historic crime wave.
“Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Maya Wiley want to slash the police department budget and shrink the police force at a time when Black and brown babies are being s🐼hot in our streets, hate crimes are terrorizing Asian and Je🍨wish communities, and innocent New Yorkers are being stabbed and shot on their way to work,” said Brooklyn Beep Adams.
Wiley has also benefited from the implosion of progressive rivals like city Comptroller Scott Stringer, who now fa🐲ces multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, and Dianne Morales, whose campaign has been riven by very public internal divisions.
Wiley also of Julian Castro, a former&n♑bsp; Housing and Urban Development secretary and presidential candidate, Saturday.
Though her campaign has so far failed to catch fire, Wiley has long been a darling of progressive circles and the preferred choice of staffers and insiders aligned with Mayor de Blasio.
She has promised lavish new spending, like $10 billion for a “Works Progress Administration-style infrastructure, stimulus, and jobs program” for New York City, while also cutting at least $1 billion to the NYPD to fund “alternatives to policing.”
In addition to W𓃲iley, AOC announced the endorsement of 60 candidates running for City Council. There are only 51 Co⭕uncil seats up for grabs and the large number reflects the new ranked-choice voting system for the citywide Democratic primaries.