AOC declared winner, Engel challenger leads
New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been declared the winner of the Democratic Party's primary contest for her seat by the New York Times.
"What you all have shown is that a people's movement here is not an accident, it is a mandate."
The progressive torch-bearer better known as AOC faced a challenge from a more moderate former business news anchor.
Ocasio-Cortez said early returns showed her constituents support her stances on Medicare for all, immigrant rights, and what she calls a "Green New Deal."
"Some of the early results that we've seen have us at about 70 to 72%. To win with that kind of mandate is transformative. And it tells us our policy positions are not an accident. It's exactly what our community has been waiting for."
New York officials said results on Tuesday night did not include returns from absentee ballots, which were requested in record numbers during the coronavirus pandemic.
Those ballots will not be completely counted until a week after the election.
Also in New York:
The state elections board says progressive candidate Jamaal Bowman, a middle-school teacher, had a significant lead over incumbent Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel.
Engel has spent more than three decades in Congress, chairs the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, and earned the endorsement of Hillary Clinton.
Bowman earned the backing of progressives such as Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warran.
Over in Kentucky, that state's Democratic primary contest saw a showdown between the two Democrats seeking to take on Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
One of them Amy McGrath, is a retired Marine fighter pilot. She held a lead over Charles Booker, a Kentucky state legislator.
Because absentee ballots are still outstanding, Kentucky officials said final results will not be known until June 30.
