Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, one of the nation’s most prominent left-wing officials, endorsed Nina Turner’s congressional bid in the final hours of a divisive Ohio contest that has increasingly attracted national Democratic attention.
Ms. Turner, a former state senator who was a co-chair of Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign, is challenging Representative Shontel Brown from the left in Tuesday’s primary election, a rematch after Ms. Brown won a bitterly fought special election last year in what was widely seen as a victory for the institutional Democratic Party.
“Nina is exactly the kind of progressive leader we need more of in Congress,” read a fund-raising email from Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s team that was released widely Monday evening, on the eve of the primary, and was first reported by The New York Times. “She will be a powerful voice for policies that will make a meaningful difference in the lives of working people across this country — like Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage, and a Green New Deal.”
For her part, Ms. Brown has been endorsed by President Biden and has campaigned in recent days with high-ranking party officials including Representatives James E. Clyburn and Hakeem Jeffries.
“Shontel Brown is about results, not insults,” Mr. Jeffries said in a video. “She is about bringing people together, not tearing folks apart.”
Ms. Brown was also endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus’s political arm, a dynamic that prompted left-wing backlash in some corners and debate about the group’s endorsement process on Capitol Hill, Punchbowl News reported Monday morning.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Ms. Brown are both members of the caucus. Mr. Sanders, another member of the caucus, has also backed Ms. Turner. Both he and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez supported her in her previous primary.
Until recently, the latest battle for the Cleveland-area congressional district largely flew under the national radar in comparison to last summer’s high-energy, high-profile and highly polarizing contest, and it is not clear how many voters have tuned into what may be a low-turnout race.
“Together we will change what is possible in our political system,” Ms. Turner wrote on Twitter in promoting Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement. “Thank you, sister.”
