A Democratic candidate, Cait Conley, who is challenging Rep. Mike Lawler, says she will not campaign with progressive figures Zohran Mamdani or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In an interview shown on national television, Conley also stopped short of explicitly rejecting the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), declining to make a definitive commitment on that issue.
The reports agree that the comments center on how closely Conley would align her campaign with prominent left-leaning political actors and organizations. While Conley draws a boundary by stating she will not campaign with AOC or Mamdani, the handling of DSA is less clear-cut: she does not fully disavow it during the interview. Other aspects of the race are not specified in the available excerpts, but the focus across coverage is Conley’s reluctance to give firm answers about national political alliances and ideological labels.
