Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are pushing back against the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for a new rule that blacklists consultants who do business with primary challengers.
Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Ro Khanna of California are calling out the DCCC for the rule, saying it stifles competition, is an assault on the progressive wing and weakens the party.
Ocasio-Cortez, who defeated incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in the 2018 primary, described the rule as a “boycott” and “blacklist,” tweeting that it’s “extremely divisive & harmful to the party.”
The rule aligns with a 2018 commitment made by DCCC chairwoman, Rep. Cheri Bustos of Illinois to the caucus, DCCC spokesperson Cole Leiter told CNN.
Khanna blamed Bustos, saying she enacted a policy to blacklist candidates like himself.” We cannot allow these divisive tactics when we need to be building a unified progressive movement that can bring the political revolution our country so desperately needs,” Khanna said in a statement.
The party was not exactly kind to challengers in previous cycles, Khanna admitted, but in the 2020 cycle under Bustos’ reign, it’s worse, he said.
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” … I met with Cheri Bustos to make it clear that we strongly oppose her new policy that stifles competition and blackballs any consultant who works for a challenger,” Khanna said, according to The Intercept.
“This unprecedented grab of power is a slap in the face of Democratic voters across the nation,” Khanna continued. “It’s … totally tone-deaf to the grassroots activists across our nation. Voters are sick of the status quo holding on to power and stifling new voices. They are sick of D.C. politicians who care more about holding on to power than a true competition of ideas.”
The DCCC spokesman defended the new policy, saying it was transparent and “will protect all members of the Democratic Caucus — regardless of where they fall within our big tent.”
Pressley, who defeated former Rep. Mike Capuano in the 2018 primary, disagreed. “If the DCCC enacts this policy to blacklist vendors who work with challengers, we risk undermining an entire universe of potential candidates and vendors — especially women and people of color- – whose ideas, energy, and innovation need a place in our party,” she wrote. Pressley became the first Black woman to represent Massachusetts in Congress.
During the 2014 race for Illinois’ 17th Congressional District, Bustos rival
Bobby Schilling released an audio recording in which Bustos’ district director, Heidi Schultz, said people in Rockford spend more time in jail than in church.
Schultz apologized and resigned, however the incident reflected poorly on Bustos, according to a 2014 report in Quad City Times.
Schilling lost the race to Bustos. His office released a statement saying “Cheri Bustos obviously has a cynical, disrespectful view of her constituents.”
