Another candidate backed by democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has gone down to defeat in humiliating fashion. In the Hawaii First District Democratic primary, former congressman Ed Case easily bested Lt. Governor Doug Chin and Donna Kim with 40% of the vote to win the right to run against a sacrificial Republican in November.
The Ocasio-Cortez-backed candidate, democratic socialist Kaniela Ing, received only 6% of the vote despite OC campaigning for him personally this past week.
Case faced his toughest challenges from Hawaii Lt. Gov. Doug Chin and former state Senate President Donna Mercado Kim.
Chin, who was appointed to lieutenant governor in February, gained national recognition as attorney general for suing the Trump administration over every version of the travel ban. Trump announced his initial ban a week after taking office in late January 2017 and Hawaii sued shortly after that.
Mercado Kim, who’s been a state senator for 18 years, led the pack as the top fundraiser. She’s also held a number of local elected positions, including serving on the Honolulu City Council for 14 years.
Case also defeated state Rep. Kaniela Ing, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who ran on a platform of single-payer health care and free college tuition.
Ing had gotten a boost from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a democratic socialist who pulled off a massive primary upset against a longtime incumbent in New York. She campaigned with Ing in the days ahead of Saturday’s primary.
Even Hawaii, one of the bluest states in the union, decisively rejected the socialist messaging of Ocasio-Cortez. It’s no different than the results from last Tuesday’s primaries where Democratic voters opted for less radical alternatives to “the future of the Democratic party.”
Indeed, Democrats will now begin to quietly tip-toe away from their premature embrace of Ocasio-Cortez. Not only is her message toxic to ordinary voters, but she’s been a spectacular failure in convincing others in her party to support democratic socialist policies.
Rather than being seen as a future star of the party, she’s going to end up a meteor — crashing and burning after a short time.
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