Meet trio ready to take on AOC
Papazian is the only area Republican to have committed to running against Ocasio-Cortez. She has yet to launch a Web site or establish a fundraising operation.
But she huddled with President Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, at a Lincoln Day dinner in Queens.
“He was encouraging and offered to be helpful when Ruth has demonstrated that she can raise enough money for a serious race,” a source told The Post.
A rep for Lewandowski did not return messages seeking comment.
Meanwhile, former NYPD Officer John Cummings has been talking to Rendino.
“I know it’s a difficult road because this is a heavily Democratic district,” said Cummings, 58, who teaches US government at the school he once attended, St. Raymond HS for Boys in Parkchester.
Ocasio-Cortez won the 14th Congressional District last year with 78 percent of the vote.
Yet while a recent Siena College poll found 52 percent of AOC’s constituents view her favorably, just 33 percent backed her opposition to Amazon establishing a headquarters in Queens, and only 41 percent support her Green New Deal.
Cummings says she ignores local problems, like the long-haul truck drivers who use Pelham Bay Park as a rest stop. “She’s only interested in a national platform, and we need local representation,” he said.
Rich Valdes, 40, who worked for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie before joining radio’s “The Mark Levin Show” as a producer, joked that “AOC” could also stand for “ambition over constituents.”
Valdes launched an exploratory committee in February and has met with Republican clubs in The Bronx and Queens.
“They’re really, really kind of discouraged at the fact that she was elected on this platform of representing the district because she ran against [incumbent Joe] Crowley, positing him as being no-show, and she’d turned out to be very much the same way, a no-show person,” Valdes said. But AOC’s office defended her record. “I couldn’t disagree more with people who are suggesting that the congresswoman isn’t present enough in the district,” said spokesman Corbin Trent.
“She’s done town halls, community board meetings, been available for office hours, she’s sat with activists and organizers and had a very strong presence in the district.”