Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Criticized By Constituents For Killing Amazon Deal
New polls, conducted by the Siena College Research Institute, show that a majority of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s constituents are not happy that she helped defeat Amazon’s move to New York.
Fifty-seven percent of voters from congressional district 14 believe that it was “bad for New York that Amazon cancelled its plans to build a new headquarters in Queens.” Thirty-two percent believe it was good for New York that the deal fell through.
A large number of Ocasio-Cortez’s constituents would like Amazon to reconsider its decision, and are supportive of Governor Cuomo’s efforts to woo the internet giant back to the big apple.
Ocasio-Cortez, who often goes by AOC, opposed to the deal due to worries about gentrification, lack of transparency with the deal, and number of tax breaks given to the wealthy company without any public input.
According to Market Watch, Amazon was set to receive around $1.2 billion in tax credits under the state’s Excelsior Jobs program, in addition to over another half billion dollars in reimbursement for the cost to build its office space.
However, the flip side was that Amazon was going to add at least an additional 25,000 jobs to the city. The Bronx, where a majority of AOC’s district is located, has an unemployment rate two points higher than the national average. The addition of jobs could thus have been a huge benefit to the district.
Ocasio-Cortez celebrated the failure of the Amazon deal, writing a message of victory to her followers on Twitter.
“Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazon’s corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world.”
AOC faced even more criticism from New York at large. In a March Siena poll, 63 percent of New Yorkers said that Amazon’s leaving was “bad for New York” and another 38 percent of respondents named the 29-year-old a “villain” for ending the deal.
Republicans were quick to pounce on these numbers. A conservative advocacy group, Job Creators Network, even purchased a billboard in Times Square to capitalize on the criticism.
Check out the sign in Times Sq.! ?Thanks to @JobCreatorsUSA?! pic.twitter.com/iIN0DTo8r2
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) February 20, 2019
Though these numbers are not great for the young former bartender, Ocasio-Cortez has some good numbers to look to as well. She has a positive 52-33 percent favorability rating, and 62 percent of Democrats in her district would vote to reelect her.
Siena College Research Institute Director Don Levy believes that those last two points are particularly good news for the congresswoman.
“Among Democrats her favorability soars to 65 percent and moves even higher to 79 percent among self-described liberals. Although it is very early, with nearly half of all voters and 61 percent of Democrats saying that they would vote to re-elect Ocasio-Cortez in 2020, she may be in position to represent this district for at least another term.”
