Gov. Cuomo warns low turnout allows AOC's chosen candidate to win District Attorney race

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won't back down on comparing border detention facilities to concentration camps

The progressive freshman Democrat lawmaker says she will never apologize for the remark after receiving criticism from both sides of the aisle.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo warned Monday that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's, D-N.Y., chosen candidate for District Attorney could win Tuesday's election if Democratic voters failed to turn out -- a situation he said led to the freshman congresswoman's victory over former Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., in 2018.

“If there’s a higher turnout, then more Democrats speak and … the outcome tends to be more representative of the overall Democratic opinion," Cuomo said, according to the New York Post.

Cuomo indicated that turnout was the reason why Crowley lost to such a progressive candidate as Ocasio-Cortez, while he was able to beat former progressive challenger Cynthia Nixon in the same congressional district. “How does Crowley lose and I win, by 37 points? It’s the turnout,” he said.

He even dubbed the phenomenon of low turnout the "Joe Crowley Effect' where only a small, motivated base turns out to vote. He suggested that was the reason why state Sen. Michael Gianaris also endorsed the more progressive attorney general candidate.

AOC'S DEM RIVAL, JOE CROWLEY, NOW BACKING CANDIDATE AGAINST HERS IN NEW YORK DA RACE

“I think many of the New York City Democrats are afraid of the ultra-left, or a product of the ultra-left in the last primary," he said.

In May, Ocasio-Cortez promoted Tiffany Caban's candidacy, arguing that her history as a public defender could be "transformative" for the office. She also rebuked the idea that the endorsement was a test of her influence over her own congressional district.

She continued advocating for Caban's candidacy on Tuesday, pushing high turnout as a positive for Caban and others.

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"Communities win when we turn out in high numbers. Let’s get @CabanForQueens elected!" she said.

Caban also received the endorsement of the Democratic Socialists of America, which backed Ocasio-Cortez during her 2018 bid.