The Real Estate Industry Bet Heavily On The Re-Election Of Congressman Joe Crowley And Lost It All

The real estate industry bet on Congressman Joe Crowley like a drunken British sailor a Pai Gow Parlor in Hong Kong. And like a drunken sailor, they saw their all-in bet go down in flames to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Cortez is a 28-year-old socialist who made New York’s affordable housing crisis a focal point of her Democratic primary campaign. She defeated Crowley by a stunning 15 point margin in Tuesday’s primary.

Crowley represents New York’s 14th Congressional District. The district covers Queens and parts of the Bronx.

Crowley raised $3.4 million for his safe Democratic seat and his biggest donors were the real estate industry.

Executives from Blackstone Group gave $35,000, The investment firm that is one of New York City’s largest landlords and was one of Crowley’s biggest corporate donors.

Real estate PAC Votesane was also another of Crowley’s largest donors this cycle. They contributed $76,500.

Crowley’s most prominent real estate donors over the last 18 months also included Related Companies executives and a who’s who of New York real estate.

Ocasio-Cortez campaigned against the influence of real estate money in New York City politics:

It’s time we stand up to the luxury developer lobby. Every official is too scared to do it except me.

Yet, Ocasio-Cortez only raised $301,000 for her campaign from 180 donors and beat Crowley.

Crowley had a reputation as being part of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Yet, he had deep ties to the who’s who of the New York real estate industry.

Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign also frequently mentioned Crowley’s developer ties in social media. She often criticized local policies such as subsidies for market-rate construction and New York State’s LLC campaign finance loophole.

In January, she tweeted:

Real estate is the currency of corruption in New York City.