AOC says progressives' help wasn't wanted in the Virginia governor's race: 'Not a single person asked me to send an email'

• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said her help wasn't wanted in Virginia's high-stakes governor's race.
• The Republican Glenn Youngkin won the race, which some considered a test of Democrats' strength.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said she wasn't enlisted to help out in Virginia's high-stakes gubernatorial race this month, which the Democrat Terry McAuliffe lost to the Republican Glenn Youngkin.

"Before the Virginia elections, it was very clear that our help and our participation was not wanted or asked for, which is fine," the progressive New York congresswoman told The New York Times in an interview published Sunday.

She said some House members with close relationships to their political base were viewed as a "liability," presumably referring to progressive Democrats.

"I think it's just sad. I think it was a mistake," she said. "And we saw a big youth-turnout collapse. Not a single person asked me to send an email, not even to my own list."

She continued: "And then they turn around and say, 'It's their fault.' When I think it was communicated quite expressly that we were unwelcome to pitch in."

Some centrist Democrats have blamed progressive messaging, such as defunding the police, for electoral losses. Progressives in turn have argued centrists aren't doing enough on-the-ground grassroots campaigning.

Many viewed the Virginia governor's race as the first major test of the Democratic Party's strength since winning back the White House in November and Congress in January.

Ocasio-Cortez also told The Times that trust between progressive and centrist Democrats would be broken if Democrats' $2 trillion social-spending bill didn't pass.