To the excitement of conservatives, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has another potential Republican challenger in New York’s 14th Congressional District. But maybe conservatives shouldn’t be so excited about Scherie Murray, a 38-year-old businesswoman from Queens.
Murray announced last week she would be seeking the district’s Republican nomination in a viral tweet. Simply providing a link to donate to her campaign, she wrote:
There’s a crisis in Queens and it’s called AOC. She isn’t worried about us – she’s worried about being famous. That’s why I’m running for Congress. Join our movement to #unitethefight ➡️ https://t.co/rtqGz0XeAw
— Scherie Murray (@ScherieMurray) July 17, 2019
Murray is the fifth person to announce her candidacy for the nomination but has garnered the most attention of the bunch. Since announcing her candidacy, the Jamaican immigrant has gained plenty of attention in conservative media. She has appeared on multiple Fox News shows, among other outlets, to trash talk Ocasio-Cortez. However, there are a few problems.
First of all, the national GOP and its base would be insane to put one ounce of support into the district regardless of who is running. According to the Cook Partisan Voting Index, it’s a D+29 district, one of the most partisan districts in the state. It’s one where no Republican congressional candidate has cracked more than 21.6% of the vote this century and one where Ocasio-Cortez won by nearly 65 percentage points in the 2018 general election.
If Murray has any chance of winning, it’s because of her conservative positions — or lack thereof. To date, she has provided little reason to believe she is an ideological conservative. Her official website only has one paragraph on her stances. The only definitively right-of-center idea listed is support for school choice.
There’s also far more compelling evidence that Murray is not actually conservative.
Last year, she congratulated Ocasio-Cortez, a socialist, on defeating 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary. Tweeting out a CNN article on Ocasio-Cortez’ victory last June, Murray wrote, “Congratulations Alexandria. #Queens is headed in a new direction and It’s time for new leadership. #Yes.”
Congratulations Alexandria. #Queens is headed in a new direction and It’s time for new leadership. #Yes. https://t.co/Jsk73JuMGW
— Scherie Murray (@ScherieMurray) June 27, 2018
According to the New York Post, Murray not only voted for former President Barack Obama twice, but she doesn’t even live in the 14th district.
Not to mention, if by some impossible miracle Murray were to win, conservatives would no longer have Ocasio-Cortez to make Republicans look like competent geniuses in comparison.
Having Ocasio-Cortez make headlines in national politics is a huge gift to the GOP and conservatives. After all, she’s the congresswoman who proposed supporting those who are “unwilling to work” (before denying it), said it was more important to be “morally right” than “precisely, factually, and semantically correct,” doesn’t understand how the unemployment rate works, thinks the VA provides fine healthcare, and refuses to publicly debate her ideas which she has no idea how to pay for. If only she were to join her fellow member of “the squad” Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan, and come out with support for a $20 minimum wage next.
If conservatives really want to win, they should be realistic. Backing someone who supported Ocasio-Cortez last year who wants to run in a D+29 district and isn’t conservative isn’t worth their time or energy. Instead, they should focus their attention on winnable house districts, like the many districts where Democrats could realistically be defeated.
