Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a rising star in the Democratic party and in the New York primaries on Tuesday, June 26, Ocasio-Cortez pulled off a stunner. It has been dubbed as the biggest upset of the primary season as the 28-year-old Democratic Socialist defeated 10-term Congressman Joe Crowley, who was the fourth-highest ranking Democrat in Congress.
It was the first time that a Democratic candidate challenged Crowley in New York’s 14th congressional district in 14 years.
“This is not an end, this is the beginning. This is the beginning because the message that we sent the world tonight is that it’s not OK to put donors before your community,” Ocasio-Cortez said as the votes came pouring in, via CNN.com.
“You have given this country hope, you have given this country proof that when you knock on your neighbor’s door, when you come to them with love, when you let them know that no matter your stance, you are there for them — that we can make change.”
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Osario-Cortez used a relentless grassroots campaign to rise in popularity.
“The reason I was able to do that is because we have built a legitimately strong grassroots movement of organizers here to hold it down for 24 to 48 hours,” she said, “and I think that’s reflective of the strength of what we have built here. It was an advantage, actually, because our community here really wanted to do something and they didn’t want to feel like they were choosing organizing the campaign over choosing to comment and organize around this moment.
“We have families and communities here (in the 14th District) from Ecuador and Colombia, Bangladesh, Korea, Pakistan, and I see them every day, many of them are very scared about what’s going on,” she said. “With my campaign, in terms of immigration, we’re trying to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got your back.'”
The win from Ocasio-Cortez shows that Democrats are turning away from the establishment and embracing a new direction for the party. She has generated new excitement among the left-leaning voters and has introduced a wave of youth that the Democrats were in desperate need of.
Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign also showed that victory is within reach even if your opponent is willing to drastically outspend you.
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