Immigrant GOP Businesswoman Is Coming for Ocasio-Cortez's Seat
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who rocketed her way into the House of Representatives in 2018 with only token Republican opposition, will not have things quite so easy in 2020.
Jamaican-born Scherie Murray told Fox News that she is launching a campaign to unseat Ocasio-Cortez. The 38-year-old is the fifth Republican to announce a possible run against the freshman progressive.
“There is a crisis in Queens, and it’s called AOC,” Murray said.
“And instead of focusing on us, she’s focusing on being famous. Mainly rolling back progress and authoring the job-killing Green New Deal and killing the Amazon New York deal,” Murray, a former state Republican committee member, said.
Ocasio-Cortez’s opposition to a deal that would have brought several hundred Amazon jobs near her district through the opening of a second Amazon headquarters was cited by the company as one factor in its decision to drop the project.
AOC seeks celebrity & publicity. She thinks public service is not about serving the public, but herself. If you think you deserve better, then you’re just like me. Join our team. Let’s #unitethefight https://t.co/rtqGz0XeAw
— Scherie Murray (@ScherieMurray) July 17, 2019
Murray launched her campaign with a video posted on YouTube.
“Your representative in Washington chooses self-promotion over service, conflict over constituents, resistance over assistance. Queens and the Bronx need someone who will create jobs instead of turning them away,” she said in the video.
Murray said Ocasio-Cortez, who defeated long-time Democratic incumbent Joseph Crowley in a 2018 primary, has drifted away from the needs of the people she is supposed to represent, including Ocasio-Cortez’s embrace of Democratic socialism.
“I think it’s far, far to the left and it is not connecting with everyday Americans,” she said.
The Republican scoffed at the Green New Deal, one of Ocasio-Cortez’s signature projects.
“We know that it certainly will kill jobs,” Murray said.
In her Fox News interview, she was asked about the current storm over tweets sent by President Donald Trump disparaging Ocasio-Cortez and three House Democratic allies.
“I think it’s disgusting, to be quite honest. I think we are missing the point of why we’re elected to public office: to legislate on policy, to deliver results to those kitchen table issues that are affecting everyday Americans,” she said.
Murray staked out her own position on Trump’s tweets.
“Is that how I would have worded it? No. Do I think the president is a racist? No. But I want to get back to the core of why we’re even talking about this — there is a crisis at our border.”
Murray came to the U.S. at the age of 9 and said she later founded a TV production and advertising company called The Esemel Group in 2004.
On Twitter, she has identified as a Trump supporter.
Happy Birthday to our President @realDonaldTrump. May God continue to bless you as President of the United States of America. May God bless us all. pic.twitter.com/YBY4HJ9uZa
— Scherie Murray (@ScherieMurray) June 14, 2019
Murray is not the only Republican planning to challenge Ocasio-Cortez. Former police officer John Cummings, journalist Ruth Papazian, construction contractor Miguel Hernandez and businessman Antoine Tucker have also filed to run for the seat, the New York Post reported.
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