Retired insurance executive Marty Dolan to challenge AOC in June primary

Marty Dolan, 66, who describes himself as “from Main Street and Wall Street,” announced earlier this month that he will be challenging U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Democratic primary in June.

Dolan faces an uphill battle in his quest to represent the 14th Congressional District of 700,000 people living in the east Bronx neighborhoods of Hunts Point, Co-Op City, Throggs Neck and Parkchester, plus the Queens neighborhoods of Astoria, East Elmhurst and part of Jackson Heights.

Ocasio-Cortez won the 2022 general election with nearly 70% of the vote and is one of the country’s most prominent elected officials. But she has not faced a primary challenger since 2020 — and Dolan believes the time is right. 

In an interview with the Bronx Times, Dolan said he will use the next three months to get his name out among CD-14 voters, many of whom he believes are fed up with progressive leadership. He argues progressives have made the city worse — not better — in terms of addressing social ills.

On his campaign website, he lists the impacts in New York City of what he called “radical” Democratic policies: “bail reform a disaster, the National Guard in the subway, toothpaste locked up in drugstores but criminals running free, scarce resources directed to (non-sanctuary) immigrants coming from all over the world.” 

Dolan has cast himself as a clear alternative to liberal incumbents such as Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman. He originally set out to challenge Bowman in the CD-16 race but switched to challenge Ocasio-Cortez in CD-14. The Bronx Times has reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s office for comment. 

“All I ever cared about was helping people,” said Dolan. 

Dolan grew up on a literal Main Street in the small Westchester County village of Irvington in a “Irish Catholic Latin American” family. His father, originally from Argentina, immigrated to the United States by steamboat. 

Dolan’s father, a doctor, mainly…