Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) endorsed former Rep. Tom Perriello, who’s running in a district President Donald Trump won by 12 points in 2024.
“If we want a Congress that actually fights for working people, we must take back the House in November,” Cortez wrote in her endorsement. “That is why I am endorsing Tom Perriello for Congress in Virginia’s 5th District. I would be proud to fight alongside Tom to rid Washington of corruption.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement comes as she considers a possible White House bid or a challenge to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
When asked about the timing of her next political move in a recent interview with the New York Times, Ocasio-Cortez said, “Life doesn’t wait for you to be ready for things. Sometimes life just makes things ready for you.”
Perriello flipped a deep-red Virginia seat in 2008, before losing two years after he voted for the Affordable Care Act. He’s now attempting to make a comeback bid almost two decades later against Rep. John McGuire (R-VA), a freshman representative who defeated former Rep. Bob Good in the GOP primary in 2024.
The former congressman has since garnered the support of Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who touted his support for the Medicare for All policy platform. While the support from well-known progressives in the party could hurt his reelection campaign in a GOP district, Virginia’s 5th Congressional District includes the University of Virginia, and Ocasio-Cortez’s popularity among younger voters could help boost turnout for Perriello on the college campus.
CONGRESS SET TO DEAL WITH MASSIE-SIZED HEADACHE AFTER MIDTERM ELECTIONS
His 2026 congressional run marks a stark shift from his 2008 campaign, where Perriello earned the support of the National Rifle Association. He later denounced the organization during a run for governor in 2017, when he was backed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) before faltering in the primary.
The Virginia Democrat faces an uphill battle despite McGuire’s seat being seen as increasingly competitive, with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee adding it to its “Red to Blue” program of seats it believes it could flip.
No Going Back, a PAC affiliated with Trump’s MAGA Inc. outside group, recently invested six figures into the race to support McGuire, according to Federal Election Commission filings.