Most in Ocasio-Cortez's District Opposed Her on Amazon Deal, Poll Finds

By Jimmy Vielkind 

A majority of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's constituents view her favorably, but they disagree with her opposition to Amazon.com Inc.'s former plan to build a new campus in Queens, a poll released Wednesday shows.

The Siena College Research Institute poll found 57% of the freshman Democrat's constituents believed Amazon's decision to cancel its plans was bad for New York, compared to 32% who said it was good. That's roughly the same as the 58% of respondents who said Gov. Andrew Cuomo was right to try to resurrect the deal, in which city and state officials offered the company up to $3 billion in incentives in exchange for a promise of 25,000 jobs.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, who represents neighborhoods near the proposed campus site in the Long Island City neighborhood, opposed the deal. She said the incentives were "extremely concerning," and believed government resources should have been focused on health care and infrastructure.

Other polls by Siena have shown a majority of voters in the state supported the deal. Amazon announced on Feb. 14 it was abandoning its plans. Mr. Cuomo said the development would diversify the economy and yield more tax revenue over time than the amount of pledged incentives would cost.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has been a vocal progressive during her first months in Congress, using social media to spread her message well beyond the 14th District, which covers parts of the Bronx and Queens. She was known to more of the 600 registered voters surveyed than both Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a presidential candidate who has been in the Senate for 10 years, and former Rep. Joe Crowley, who represented the district for 20 years before Ms. Ocasio-Cortez defeated him in a Democratic primary.

A quarter of the poll respondents said they, like Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, identified as a Democratic Socialist.

Voters in the district view Ms. Ocasio-Cortez favorably by a 52-33% margin, and approve of the job she's doing by 47-42%. The poll, which was conducted last week and has a 4.3-point margin of error, showed 41% of respondents support the Green New Deal that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has espoused, compared to 20% who oppose it. The Green New Deal would dramatically overhaul the country's energy and transportation infrastructure to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

The poll showed broader support for some of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez's other policy positions. Seventy-five percent of voters surveyed said they support opening the Medicare program for all citizens, 76% support free tuition at public universities across the U.S. and 73% said they support a federal guarantee of a job that pays a living wage.

Write to Jimmy Vielkind at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 10, 2019 05:44 ET (09:44 GMT)

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