Who is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?
NEW YORK (WABC) -- With a low budget and far-left platform, 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez managed to upset longtime U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley in New York's 14th congressional district on Tuesday in the Democratic congressional primary.
Crowley, who began his Congressional career in 1999 and hadn't faced an opponent in a primary election since 2004, is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House and was considered a candidate for House speaker, so novice Ocasio-Cortez's victory came as a surprise to the political elite.
Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx to a Puerto Rican mother who cleaned homes and father who owned a business in the South Bronx, according to her campaign website.
The Boston University graduate worked for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and, after college, returned home to work as an educational director and community organizer.
In 2016, she organized for the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders, who later endorsed her.
Ocasio-Cortez is a member of Democratic Socialists of America and ran on a leftist platform, calling to abolish the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), fund Medicare for all and guarantee jobs for all Americans.
According to Democratic Socialists of America website, the organization believes that both the economy and society should be run democratically to meet human needs, not to make profits for a few. It is a political and activist organization, not a party.
And according to the New City Democratic Socialists website, it's the largest socialist organization in the United States with about 30,000 members (as of November 2017).
Ocasio-Cortez will face Republican challenger Anthony Pappas in the November general election. The primary is in a deep-blue district, all but guaranteeing Ocasio-Cortez a seat in the House come November.
She would make history as the first woman in her twenties to be elected to Congress.
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