Shock reverberated around the country as people grappled with what this would mean for Democratic politics. AOC unseated Crowley in the Democratic primaries, with 57% of the vote. On 26 June 2018, the unexpected happened. This viral advertisement helped to spread the issues she ran on free healthcare, tuition-free public college, a jobs guarantee and criminal justice reform. It emphasised her platform of representing the average New Yorker, “a New York for many” as she says in the video. In an incredibly rare political feat, 62% of contributions were individual donations of $200 or less.ĪOC was still relatively unknown until May 2018, when her campaign video thrust her into the national spotlight within a few days. Throughout the campaign, AOC refused to accept corporate funding and instead relied on small individual donors. She ran for New York’s 14 th district, encompassing the east section of the Bronx, north-central Queens and Rikers Island. Her campaign started small a politically inexperienced team and a group of volunteers canvassing the neighbourhood. After all, Crowley had served 10 terms in Congress and had run unopposed since 2004, before AOC had even started high school. As a bartender, AOC certainly fit the criteria.Ĭhallenging powerful Democratic incumbent Joe Crowley seemed at first to be pretty much impossible. They aim to represent the needs of everyday Americans through electing non-career politicians to Congress. In December 2016, her younger brother Gabriel Ocasio-Cortez sent her information to grassroots political organisation Brand New Congress, who recruited AOC for the 2018 election. In 2016, she volunteered for Bernie Sander’s election campaign and he has remained a mentor throughout her political progression.Īlthough AOC started to immerse herself in politics more and more, her path to Congress is anything but standard. The beginnings of AOC’s political career came in college, where she interned for Senator Ted Kennedy’s office, focusing on immigration issues. ![]() Her mother worked as a cleaner and school bus driver, while AOC began working at restaurants and bars after graduation to supplement her work at a non-profit organisation. During her sophomore year at college, her father died of lung cancer, ushering in severe financial hardship for her family. She credits this to be a pivotal realisation that “your ZIP code defines your destiny,” and this would go on to shape her policy decisions when elected.Īfter high school, AOC took out student loans to study economics and international relations at Boston University. ![]() Her family then moved to the prosperous suburb of Yorktown Heights, as her parents were determined to give her and her younger brother a better education. She was elected at 29, making her the youngest woman to serve in the United States Congress.ĪOC lived in the Bronx, part of New York’s 14 th district that she represents, until she was five years old. Her widespread popularity ranges from her progressive policy making, sassy social media presence and even her power dressing. Since her election in 2018, the bartender turned congresswoman has upended traditional politics. ![]() Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, now widely known by her initials AOC, isn’t your typical US politician.
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