Board of Election employees and volunteers wearing PPE (personal protective equipment) assist voters at the Brooklyn Museum polling site for the New York Democratic presidential primary elections on June 23, 2020 in New York City. ©AFP Angela Weiss

New Yorkers are among those heading to the polls Tuesday as a number of progressive candidates of color are hoping to unseat Democratic incumbents in closely watched legislative primaries.The primaries come two years after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez initiated a potential changing of the guard, stunning the political establishment by unseating veteran Joe Crowley — an elected member of Congress for two decades.

Along with fellow progressives Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, Democratic Socialist Ocasio-Cortez has become one of Congress’ most recognizable figures.

The 30-year-old is up for re-election and largely favored to keep her spot in the House of Representatives.

The most closely watched New York race features Jamaal Bowman, a former middle school principal who is African American and is aiming to pull an AOC-style upset.

He’s poised to boot out Eliot Engel, a 73-year-old white Democrat who has spent some three decades in Congress.

The district race covers part of the Bronx and Westchester, north of Manhattan, and neighbors Ocasio-Cortez’s district that also covers parts of the Bronx as well as Queens.

It’s a primary that encapsulates fractures within the party fueled by frustration with the traditional wing, led by longtime member of Congress Nancy Pelosi — currently Speaker of the House — and anchored by backers of centrist Democrats including current presidential candidate Joe Biden and former nominee Hillary Clinton.

Ocasio-Cortez has thrown her political weight behind the 44-year-old Bowman, as have progressive stalwarts Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

In a largely Democratic district, the winner of the primary is essentially ensured a seat in Congress.

New Yorkers were all eligible to vote by mail, given the coronavirus pandemic, and as many have chosen to do to results of Tuesday’s primary could see significant delays.

Kentucky is another state where a progressive insurgent is aiming for a shock upset over a more established centrist candidate, this time in the race to see who challenges the state’s Republican incumbent, US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in November.

Democratic state lawmaker Charles Booker has emerged as a dynamic voice at a time the nation faces a reckoning over racial injustice, and the 35-year-old African American has surged into contention against the favorite, Amy McGrath.

McGrath, 45, is a former fighter pilot whose moderate positions might be better suited to more conservative Kentucky — which Trump won by 30 points in 2016 — and she has been a fundraising phenomenon this year.

But Booker has attracted a groundswell of 11th-hour support, and received several high-profile endorsements in recent weeks, including from leftists Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez.

(AFP)

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.