--- title: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fights Democrats Over Primaries description: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is now embroiled in a fight with the party Establishment over primary fights. canonical: https://time.com/5562050/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dccc-primary/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-04-01T20:30:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T23:11:23.127Z article:section: Politics og:title: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fights Democratic Establishment Over Primaries og:description: A new rule would bar consultants who advised primary challengers og:url: https://time.com/5562050/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dccc-primary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedd7d889820ae27d/69894535656a3f750abd6a41/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-amazon.jpeg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Women's March 2019 - New York City og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fights Democratic Establishment Over Primaries twitter:description: A new rule would bar consultants who advised primary challengers twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedd7d889820ae27d/69894535656a3f750abd6a41/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-amazon.jpeg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fights Democratic Establishment Over Primaries > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=c862cfde-f288-4600-b988-0bdaa11f46f9&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Weekdays | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Weekly | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Twice a week | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | Source: TIME, August 2026. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=c862cfde-f288-4600-b988-0bdaa11f46f9&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=c862cfde-f288-4600-b988-0bdaa11f46f9&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (health, weekdays), Worth Your Time (culture, weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=c862cfde-f288-4600-b988-0bdaa11f46f9&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Apr 1, 2019 8:30 PM UTC  Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 14th district Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attends Women's March 2019 on January 19, 2019. Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 14th district Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attends Women's March 2019 on January 19, 2019. John Lamparski—Getty Images  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Apr 1, 2019 8:30 PM UTC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her seat in Congress after defeating a Democratic incumbent, so it’s not surprising that she’s now embroiled in a fight with the party Establishment over similar primary challenges. In late March, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced that it would no longer work with consultants who are advising candidates who challenge Democratic incumbents. As a protest to what she called a “blacklist,” Ocasio-Cortez raised more than $92,000 for Democrats in swing districts across the country over the weekend. The fight gets at the heart of a rising conflict among the party’s left flank, which would like to replace both Republican incumbents and moderate Democrats with more progressive alternatives, and Establishment groups like the DCCC, which are more focused on keeping a Democratic majority. **Read More:** [_Inside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Unlikely Rise_](http://time.com/5555770/) On March 22, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee unveiled new standards for political vendors, announcing that in order to protect Democratic incumbents, “the DCCC will not conduct business with, nor recommend to any of its targeted campaigns, any consultant that works with an opponent of a sitting Member of the House Democratic Caucus.” The new standards also include diversity guidelines for vendors, and a mandate that they include unionized labor when possible. But many Progressives saw the new standards as an attempt to strangle the new progressive organizations like the Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress, two groups that endorsed progressives Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Ayanna Pressley in their races to unseat longtime Democratic incumbents. Both groups have said they plan to launch more primary challengers to Democrats in safe blue districts who they deem to be insufficiently progressive, a plan which has sent shock waves through the Democratic establishment. “It seems like the DCCC is trying to use their financial weight to make it more difficult to help out a primary challenger like Ayanna Pressley or like AOC,” says Waleed Shahid, communications director for Justice Democrats, a progressive organization that boosts primary challengers to Democrats who take corporate donations. “As primary challenges become more mainstream, the DCCC is freaking out.” The DCCC said it was simply looking to protect a “big tent” within the party. “When Chairwoman Bustos was running to lead the DCCC, she stood up in front of her colleagues and made a promise to stand with and protect every Member of the most diverse caucus in Congressional history as we work to defend and grow our Democratic majority,” said DCCC spokesperson Cole Leiter. “This transparent policy follows through on that exact promise and will protect all Members of the Democratic Caucus — regardless of where they fall within our big tent.” But other progressives argued that the DCCC rule would create a roadblock for fresh faces. “If the DCCC enacts this policy to blacklist vendors who work with challengers, we risk undermining an entire universe of potential candidates and vendors — especially women and people of color — whose ideas, energy, and innovation need a place in our party,” Pressley told TIME. “When a candidate takes the risk to run, Democrats should not be in the practice of creating litmus tests or roadblocks that have a chilling effect on new candidates or those who would invest their sweat equity in support.” “The DCCC’s new rule to blacklist + boycott anyone who does business w/ primary challengers is extremely divisive & harmful to the party,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez [tweeted](https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1112100589788450816) Saturday night. “My recommendation, if you’re a small-dollar donor: pause your donations to DCCC & give directly to swing candidates instead.” She then went on to tweet links to the fundraising pages for three newly elected Democrats candidates running in swing districts: Reps. Mike Levin and Katie Porter in California and Rep. Lauren Underwood in Illinois. On Sunday, she sent out an email urging her supporters to donate to Levin, Rep. Jahana Hayes in Connecticut and Rep. Katie Hill in California. By Monday, those three candidates had raised more than $92,000. The push to help candidates in swing districts is a shift for Ocasio-Cortez, who has mostly focused on boosting her progressive allies, mostly from solidly liberal areas. Not all of the candidates she supported over the weekend are in lockstep with her on policy issues: Hill, Porter and Underwood have not signed on as co-sponsors of Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal, and Underwood [has said she](https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/27/politics/medicare-for-all-democrats-divided/index.html) wants to defend and repair the Affordable Care Act rather than push for Medicare for All. “We were very appreciative of the support, and she helped get us to our fundraising goal,” said Underwood’s campaign manager Ronnie Cho, adding that other members of Congress also helped her reach her goal. But despite the fundraising haul, the Ocasio-Cortez endorsement may actually create problems for Democrats running in swing districts. In a [press release](https://www.nrcc.org/2019/04/01/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-endorses-katie-hill/) Monday, the National Republican Campaign Committee slammed “California’s own socialist Democrat, Katie Hill,” adding that “Hill, like Ocasio-Cortez, has no problem kicking Californians off their private health insurance and replacing it with Medicare for All.” By Monday, Rep. Ro Khanna, a progressive House Democrat who has been critical of the new DCCC policy, floated a potential compromise: maybe, he [told reporters](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/khanna-floats-compromise-after-flare-up-over-dccc-stifling-primaries), the DCCC should only ban strategists who worked against Democratic incumbents in swing districts. But a DCCC insider told TIME that the rule is unlikely to change in any way. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5562050/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dccc-primary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5562050/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dccc-primary/"},"headline":"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fights Democratic Establishment Over Primaries","datePublished":"2019-04-01T20:30:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T23:11:23.127Z","description":"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is now embroiled in a fight with the party Establishment over primary fights.","url":"https://time.com/5562050/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dccc-primary/","keywords":["Campaign Finance","Congress"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedd7d889820ae27d/69894535656a3f750abd6a41/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-amazon.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedd7d889820ae27d/69894535656a3f750abd6a41/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-amazon.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Women's March 2019 - New York City","caption":"Women's March 2019 - New York City","creditText":"John Lamparski—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/campaign-finance/","name":"Campaign Finance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5562050/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dccc-primary/","name":"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Fights Democratic Establishment Over Primaries"}}]}] ```