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- Meet Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the millennial, socialist political novice who beat her establishment Democrat rival in a huge electoral upset
Meet Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the millennial, socialist political novice who beat her establishment Democrat rival in a huge electoral upset
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx to a working-class family. Her mom is Puerto Rican mother and her dad is a Bronx native.
Her parents were disappointed in their local schooling system, so her entire extended family helped fund a move to a better school district.
Shuttling between New York's poorest borough in Bronx, where her extended family lived, and more affluent boroughs was her first experience of income inequality, she told The Intercept.
She went to Boston University, where she studied economics and international relations. After graduation she took up bartending and waitressing jobs to supplement her mother's income as a housecleaner and bus driver.
Source: The Intercept
This is Ocasio-Cortez's first run for office, but she has experience of politics. In college she worked for the Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts on immigration issues, and was an organizer for the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign.
Source: The New York Times
Her campaign centered on a progressive platform advocating Medicare for everyone, a universal jobs guarantee, and immigration and criminal justice reform.
Source: Vox, Ocasio 2018
Earlier this week she traveled to the US-Mexico border to directly confront border officers outside a child detention center.
Crowley, meanwhile, collected $3 million for his campaign. He hadn't had to contest a primary for the past 14 years.
"This race is about people versus money," Ocasio-Cortez said in her campaign video. "We've got people. They've got money."
Source: Ocasio 2018
She also has the support of Cynthia Nixon, who is running for Governor of New York later this year. "Alexandria and I are joining together to take on the old boys club," Nixon said.
Nixon (wearing blue in the photo above) said on Monday, according to Politico: "She represents the future of the Democratic Party.
"Alexandria and I are joining together to take on the old boys club, rejecting corporate money and run people-powered campaigns that envision a progressive New York that serves the many, not just the few who can afford to buy influence."
Source: Politico
Her win has been perceived as a major upset to the Democratic Party, which has seen a schism between establishment and progressive Democrats — as was demonstrated by Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns in 2016.
Trump has also celebrated Crowley's loss in Tuesday's primary, although he appeared to attribute the result to himself. "Perhaps he should have been nicer, more respectful, to his President!" he tweeted.
Wow! Big Trump Hater Congressman Joe Crowley, who many expected was going to take Nancy Pelosi’s place, just LOST his primary election. In other words, he’s out! That is a big one that nobody saw happening. Perhaps he should have been nicer, and more respectful, to his President!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2018"We beat a machine with a movement," she told supporters. If she wins the election, she will likely be the youngest woman ever elected to the US House of Representatives.
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