Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), known for her outspoken criticism of lobbyist influence in politics, has repeatedly claimed she does not accept donations from lobbyists. However, federal campaign finance records reveal that Ocasio-Cortez has received nearly 100 donations from registered lobbyists since assuming office in 2019.
Her social media accounts describe her campaign as “people-funded” and explicitly state she “takes no lobbyist [cash],” using a money bag emoji to emphasize her stance. Yet, contributions from lobbyists have totaled thousands of dollars over the years.
One of Ocasio-Cortez’s most consistent donors is Dave Koshgarian, a lobbyist for Ernst & Young, who has contributed thousands of dollars to her campaign since 2020. Koshgarian’s corporate clients include Duke Energy, MetLife, General Electric, Charles Schwab, and BlackRock. Other lobbyist donors to her campaign have represented major corporations such as Nike, Delta Air Lines, and healthcare trade groups.
Ocasio-Cortez has also criticized “dark money” — funds that influence politics without disclosing their original donors — and accused such groups of unethical lobbying. Ironically, some clients of her lobbyist donors, such as the New Venture Fund, are linked to Democratic-aligned dark money networks managed by Arabella Advisors.
The congresswoman has a history of railing against the lobbying industry. In 2018, she criticized the Democratic Party for accepting corporate lobbyist money and has since called for banning members of Congress from becoming lobbyists after leaving office. She has also accused lobbyists of killing legislation designed to serve the public.
Despite her campaign promises, Ocasio-Cortez’s reliance on lobbyist donations appears to contradict her rhetoric. The congresswoman has not publicly addressed the inconsistency, and her criticism of lobbyists has noticeably waned in recent years. She has not mentioned the words “lobby,” “lobbyist,” or “lobbying” on X (formerly Twitter) since September 2022.
In April 2023, The Washington Examiner reported that a top TikTok lobbyist served on the board of a nonprofit advised by Ocasio-Cortez. During that time, she opposed bipartisan efforts to ban TikTok, advocating instead for broader protections against data harvesting.
“This is how corporate lobbying works,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in 2019. “Lobbyists ID bills they need to kill to keep profits high (no matter the human cost), come up w/ ‘sensible’ talking points to mask intent + say policy is ‘misguided,’ then schmooze policymakers in secret into accepting said talking points.”
The revelation of Ocasio-Cortez’s lobbyist contributions has raised questions about the consistency of her anti-lobbyist stance and the transparency of her campaign funding practices.
