Meet Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the millennial, socialist political novice who beat her establishment Democrat rival in a huge electoral upset

Alexandra Ma

Jun 27, 2018, 15:11 IST

Meet Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the millennial, socialist political novice who beat her establishment Democrat rival in a huge electoral upset

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A 28-year-old political newcomer beat a veteran politician in New York's Democratic Party congressional primary election on Tuesday night, in what has been perceived as shocking and major upset within the Democratic Party.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won 57.5% of the vote while her opponent, Joe Crowley, had 42.5%. Crowley has represented New York's 14th district since 1999, and hadn't been challenged since 2004.

The victory of Ocasio-Cortez is a major upset to the Democratic Party, which has seen a schism between establishment and progressive Democrats since the 2016 election.

Less than a year ago, Ocasio-Cortez was working as a bartender to help support her working-class family. In November 2018, she will be take on Republican candidate Anthony Pappas for a seat in the US House of Representatives.

Scroll down to learn more about her.

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.

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.

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.

Her campaign centered on a progressive platform advocating Medicare for everyone, a universal jobs guarantee, and immigration and criminal justice reform.

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.

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.

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