Former CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera will challenge Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in House Democratic primary

Former longtime CNBC correspondent and anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera has launched a challenge in the Democratic primary against freshman firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

Caruso-Cabrera, who became a CNBC contributor when she left the network in September 2018, serves as a member of the board of directors for financial services firm Beneficient. She will take a leave from her role as CNBC contributor for the duration of the campaign, a CNBC spokesperson said.

According to a filing late Monday, she will run as a Democrat in that party’s primary in the 14th District. Caruso-Cabrera is known to be a skeptic of government and a proponent of free markets. In 2010, she published a book called “You Know I’m Right: More Prosperity, Less Government.” She has been a registered Democrat for several years.

“I am the daughter and granddaughter of working class Italian and Cuban immigrants,” Caruso-Cabrera said in a statement. “I am so lucky to have had such a wonderful career and I want everybody to have the opportunity that I’ve had. That’s why I’m running.”