Democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez upsets high-ranking official in NY primary. What’s next?
In the most shocking political upset this week, 28 year old Latina and self-described democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez beat the 4th highest ranking Democrat in Congress, Rep. Joe Crowley in New York’s 14th congressional district.
“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 told her lively supporters on Tuesday night. She credits her win to an entirely grassroots campaign that relied on progressive organizers and the support of the working class.
She continues, “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.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s win is distinguished due to her progressive platform which includes free college tuition, universal healthcare for all, and her most controversial position, the abolition of Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE).
Days before the primary, Ocasio-Cortez left New York to join protestors at a Texas ICE detention facility.
The child detention camps are here – I confronted the border officers myself.
Using their names, I told them exactly what they are responsible for.
One of them made eye contact with me.
I spoke directly to him.
I saw his sense of guilt.
We can dismantle this.#AbolishICE pic.twitter.com/QLyc9MAnkt— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 24, 2018
She also condemns Israeli apartheid and the lethal violence Israeli forces inflicted on Palestinian protestors earlier this year. Unlike her 10-term seasoned opposition, Ocasio-Cortez also rejected corporate pacts and relied entirely on a local grassroots initiative to fund her campaign.
Her progressive could signal a change in the persistent disconnect between the working class and rich centrist politicians in Democratic leadership. While many were overjoyed with the political win of a young, progressive Latina woman in the age of Trump, some were also concerned about what next steps Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would take in a very corporate and centrist political landscape. Many also pointed out that grassroots mass mobilizations must be maintained in more than just individual progressive people, and that Democrats have yet to adopt an accountability model to hold and maintain radical positions so they are not compromised.