Their money couldnt buy a movement: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez taunts Wall Street after triumphing over her billionaire-backed primary opponent

AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File

• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez goaded Wall Street on Wednesday after winning the Democratic primary for New York’s 14th Congressional district.
• Her opponent, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, received campaign contributions from Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, and several billionaire investors.
• “There is no price tag for having people who are animated by the courage of their convictions and by a desire for a better world,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a victory video. “You cannot purchase that.”
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez taunted Wall Street on Wednesday after comfortably winning the Democratic primary for New York’s 14th Congressional district.

The progressive lawmaker’s biggest rival was Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, a former CNBC international correspondent who received campaign donations from several financial titans.

“Wall Street CEOs, from Goldman Sachs to Blackstone, poured in millions to defeat our grassroots campaign tonight,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “But their money couldn’t buy a movement.”

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The first-term Congresswoman, who goes by the nickname “AOC,” also attached a video in which she rebuked financiers for trying to buy the election and praised her supporters for overcoming the threat.

“There is no price tag for having people who are animated by the courage of their convictions and by a desire for a better world,” she said. “You cannot purchase that.”

“Wall Street just decided to put in millions of dollars in dark money [at the] last minute in this race,” she added. If people hadn’t volunteered, organized, and phonebanked for her, she continued, it “might have meant something.”

Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, and billionaire investors including John Paulson, Paul Tudor Jones, Stanley Druckenmiller, and Nelson Peltz all contributed to Caruso-Cabrera’s campaign, the Federal Election Commission database shows.

While Caruso-Cabrera had the backing of many Wall Street icons, she raised only around 20% of the money raised by Ocasio-Cortez. FEC data shows she raised just over $2 million, while AOC secured over $10.5 million in donations during the campaign.

The data currently published by the FEC only covers the period until the first week of June, so it is possible these totals have changed in recent days.

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Ocasio-Cortez is a vocal critic of big business. She has called for higher taxes to finance progressive programs such as single-payer healthcare and a shift away from a carbon economy, and pushed for tougher regulations on banks, tech titans, and other large companies.

The 30-year-old legislator, who won more than 72% of the primary vote according to Decision Desk HQ, tweeted about Caruso-Cabrera’s wealthy backers last week as well.

“Wall St CEOs & lobbyists are FLOODING my district w/ millions of dollars right before Tuesday’s election,” she said.

“It’s a bit flattering, actually: they wouldn’t target me if I wasn’t effective.”