New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is backing three socialist candidates challenging incumbent Democrats in next month’s primaries — including the son of a celebrity doctor and a former campaign staffer for Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The Bronx and Queens congresswoman revealed her slate of endorsements in down-ballot races Thursday, just as Mamdani shockingly boosted fellow DSA-er Darializa Avila Chevalier against longtime Manhattan Rep. Adriano Espaillat.
AOC, meanwhile, announced her backing of three Democratic Socialists of America members — David Orkin, Christian Celeste Tate and Eon Huntley — who want to bring far-left policies to the Big Apple, like making prostitution legal and preventing the NYPD from cooperating with ICE.
Among them is Orkin, a 35-year-old longtime anti-Israel activist and lawyer for the George Soros-backed immigrant rights group Make the Road New York.
Orkin is challenging Queens Assemblywoman Jennifer Rajkumar with a platform that would raise the minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030. The 38th Assembly District that includes Richmond Hill, Woodhaven and other parts of Queens.
Despite promoting himself as a “working class” candidate, Orkin is the scion of famed tush doctor Bruce Orkin and grew up in the wealthy Maryland suburb of Rockville.
The lefty candidate, who is white, wrote his senior thesis analyzing “whiteness” at a Poughkeepsie farmers market.
Huntley is challenging Assemblywoman Stefani Zinerman for the second time, after unsuccessfully taking her on in 2024 in Brooklyn’s District 56 that takes on Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights.
Huntley, who worked as a fashion designer and clothing salesman, caught flack in his last race for living outside of the district in a posh building that received developer tax breaks that he railed against as a candidate.
He told City and State in a 2025 interview that he has since moved into the district.
The 41-year-old candidate’s freebie-filled platform pushes to eliminate tuition at SUNY and CUNY schools as well as eliminating bus fares like Mamdani – which would cost the state billions of dollars.
Another Mamdani ally, Celeste Tate is a former field coordinator for Hizzoner’s mayoral campaign now challenging Assemblymember Erik Dilan in District 54 spanning from East New York to Bushwick in Brooklyn.
He supports decriminalization for sex work and pro-prostitution policies just like Mamdani doubled down on during the campaign.
“Sex work is work!” the candidate wrote in a candidate questionnaire, continuing to say that law enforcement is “often abusive” to sex workers and “unlikely to help” in dangerous situations.
Ocasio-Cortez also endorsed Eli Northrup, the only non-DSA member of the group and the only candidate not running against an incumbent.
The 41-year-old public defender, who worked as policy director for the progressive legal group Bronx Defenders, is challenging Rabbi Stephanie Ruskay for the Upper West Side’s Assembly District 69.
Northrup has said defending “New York against Trump and ICE” is one of his top priorities and is an enthusiastic backer of the controversial New York for All Act, which would ban informal cooperation between New York’s Finest and federal immigration enforcement.
He also prominently describes himself as an enthusiastic backer of Mamdani’s pie-in-the-sky Department of Community Safety, which would send social workers rather than police for mental health calls.
While Mamdani pushed to create a $1.1 billion agency in the campaign and in his early days as Mayor, the program has since been pared down to a $260 million office in the city budget.
Northrup previously ran an unsuccessful bid against current congressional candidate Micah Lasher.
None of the candidates responded to a request for comment by press time.