Oakley: ‘The Democratic establishment collapsed under its own top-heaviness Tuesday’

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Democratic 10th District congressional challenger Imani Oakley is panning “establishment Dems” for Tuesday’s results in New Jersey and Virginia.

Democratic 10th District congressional candidate Imani Oakley. Facebook photo.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

“The Democratic establishment collapsed under its own top-heaviness Tuesday. Party leaders have continued to put forward candidates that do not speak to the radical change American’s need and deserve,” she said in a statement.

Election Day saw a Democratic rout in Virginia and a narrowly averted disaster in New Jersey, with Gov. Phil Murphy (D) narrowly projected to win after all vote-by-mail and provisional ballots are tallies.

New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3), who held the post since 2010, also suffered a stunning upset against Republican challenger Edward Durr, who reported spending just $153 on his 11-day pre-election campaign finance report.

Oakley also pointed out that some in establishment Democratic circles are jumping to blame progressives instead of analyzing how local electoral machines may have hobbled their own campaign efforts.

“Corporate Democrats are pivoting quickly from Tuesday night’s embarrassing results to blaming progressives for not carrying the party’s gubernatorial candidates across the finish line,” she said.

Instead of playing the blame game, the establishment wing needs to take accountability and actually listen to its progressive base.”

Oakley also contends that Democratic party insiders have repeatedly marginalized progressive Black and brown women in favor of moderate male candidates.

“Establishment Dems worked to undermine India Walton’s victory in Buffalo, played kingmaker for Terry McAuliffe in Virginia, and have constantly attempted to stymie local progressives,” she stated.

“They should not be surprised when progressives, people of color, and the working class don’t come out to vote. It may be too late for the party to learn its lesson in 2021, but they can avoid it in 2022.”

Oakley is set to challenge U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-10) in the June 2022 primary.


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1 COMMENT

  1. Ms. Oakley,
    While the District in which you are a candidate for Congress is overwhelmingly Progressive, you do yourself and our Democratic Party a huge disservice by erroneously thinking that our Party is as Progressive as you and I are. Thanks for at least admitting that it was indeed a poor showing in Tuesday’s Election in Virginia and New Jersey by our Progressive Wing that led to disaster in VA and near disaster in NJ.

    While it is true that the Moderates in our Party -Particularly in the Senate-would never had voted for the original price tag of Build Back Better, it was your embrace (and the embrace by AOC and her associates in the House) of the ‘my way or the highway’ attitude that nearly sabotaged the infrastructure bill. You really do need to sit down with someone who can patiently and skillfully explain to you that Senators Manchin and Senema hold ALL the cards here, not Us. Once you can see that, you will understand many other things. Thankfully, politicians from our Party who KNOW the score were able to untangle the mess created by our Progressive wing and pass the Infrastructure Bill and secure a Pathway to pass Build Back Better by Thanksgiving. Let us not sabotage this again.

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