AOC predecessor Joe Crowley suggests ‘complacency’ to blame for progressive upsets in N.Y. primaries

Joe Crowley sees plenty of parallels between his congressional downfall and this week’s primary upsets.

The former New York congressman told the Daily News on Friday that “complacency” was to blame for the progressive earthquake that rocked the city’s congressional delegation this week and suggested that his ouster was part of the same pattern.

“In this election -- and I give credit to the insurgency in this case -- they created an energy that’s needed in the very same way that Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez did in the election against me. That is very important,” Crowley said, referring to the left-wing congresswoman who brought his two-decade House tenure to an end in the 2018 midterms.

Rep. Eliot Engel, who’s all but certain to lose his seat to a progressive challenger after Tuesday’s primary, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who’s dangerously close to losing hers as well, weren’t able to replicate that energy, Crowley said.

“They’ve been in there for quite some time, so there’s a bit of complacency, both by the individual and the electorate,” Crowley said. “I think it’s harder when you’ve been in office for that long. That’s how it always is.”

Though thousands of mail-in ballots remain outstanding, Engel, a 16-term incumbent representing parts of the Bronx and Westchester County, is down by nearly 30% against progressive insurgent Jamaal Bowman in the in-person Election Day vote count, prompting Bowman to declare victory.

Meanwhile, Maloney, a 14-term incumbent representing sections of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, holds just a 1% edge over Suraj Patel in the Election Day tally, meaning the mail-in ballots will decide her fate.

Two more young, upstart progressives, City Councilman Ritchie Torres and lawyer Mondaire Jones, are on track to win their respective races to replace retiring Reps. Jose Serrano and Nita Lowey, meaning that New York’s Bronx and Westchester County-representing House delegation will likely be entirely made up of people of color next year.

Crowley, who’s picked up work as an adviser to lobbyist powerhouse Squire Patton Boggs since leaving office, suggested a cocktail of national upheaval may have had a hand in Tuesday’s seismic elections.

“I think there’s a great deal more frustration out there because of Trump, because of economic upheaval, because of the pandemic, because of Black Lives Matter, where a lot of people are wondering why nothing has happened,” Crowley said.

He also said the the demographics of the districts represented by Engel, Maloney and other incumbents have shifted drastically over the past few decades.

“The diversity of New York is being represented in the delegation,” Crowley said.

Still, Crowley said he mourns the “loss of seniority” that comes the likely defeat of Engel.

“Legislating is about relationship-building. That doesn’t happen overnight. There’s a bit of that setback that’s taking place,” he said. “The potential loss of Eliot Engel is a great deal of loss for the delegation. I think it’s going to take some time for the electorate to understand and appreciate the loss of that experience and seniority.”

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