Former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland, a Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, on Saturday mourned Amazon’s decision to cancel its plan to build a corporate headquarters in Queens, N.Y.

Delaney, a centrist who earned a fortune as an entrepreneur before joining Congress, challenged New York progressives who agitated against the plan, which had promised 25,000 jobs.

“Visiting my mom in NJ so reading stories about the Amazon deal that went away,” Delaney wrote in a Twitter post. “A bad outcome for the region; I feel bad for the small businesses in Queens. As my late dad, a 60 yr union electrician would say "it's all about jobs." The Amazon deal was jobs & Ds should be pro-jobs.”



Visiting my mom in NJ so reading stories about the Amazon deal that went away. A bad outcome for the region; I feel bad for the small businesses in Queens. As my late dad, a 60 yr union electrician would say "it's all about jobs." The Amazon deal was jobs & Ds should be pro-jobs — John Delaney (@JohnDelaney) February 16, 2019

Progressives who opposed the deal, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said tax incentives offered by New York state amounted to taxpayer bribes. New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, both Democrats, led the effort to bring Amazon to Queens, seeking to diversify the city's economy and make it a tech hub.

Delaney, in another Twitter post, acknowledged the bidding process for Amazon’s headquarters “was a bit unseemly,” but it was worth it considering “the tax revenues and entrepreneurial opportunities that flow from it.”

