Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Youngest Woman Ever Elected
November 6th 2018 — Election day made huge progress for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez big wins, Becoming Youngest Woman Ever Elected To Congress
Progressive newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of several barrier-breaking women of color headed to Congress.
Progressive Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her race for a U.S. House seat in New York’s 14th District on Tuesday, becoming the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
The 29-year-old political newcomer made headlines nationwide in June when she unexpectedly defeated 10-term Rep. Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary.
Ocasio-Cortez easily prevailed in the heavily Democratic district against Republican opponent Anthony Pappas, a St. John’s University professor.
“Our district is overwhelmingly people of color, it’s working class, it’s very immigrant ― and it hasn’t had the representation we’ve needed,” Ocasio-Cortez told HuffPost in June. Her district, which includes parts of the Bronx and Queens, is one of the most diverse in the country.
The millennial Latina, born to a Puerto Rican mom and Bronxite dad, famously worked as a bartender just months before winning her primary and had never previously held political office. She garnered former President Barack Obama’s endorsement for the general election.
A member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Ocasio-Cortez is part of a wave of progressive Democrats promising to push the party establishment further left. She refused any corporate PAC money in her campaign and ran on a boldly progressive platform that included Medicare for all, a federal jobs guarantee and the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Since her primary win, Ocasio-Cortez has been attacked by right-leaning media pundits, including a Daily Caller editor who called her “populist lines,” such as calling for a living wage, “truly terrifying.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, at 29, is the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. (Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Ocasio-Cortez is also part of a historic number of women ― and a dramatic increase in women of color specifically ― who won nominations in the 2018 midterms. Her upset win in June served as a rallying cry for other progressive candidates facing tough battles in later primaries.
Ocasio-Cortez is one of several women who made history Tuesday night, including Rashida Tlaib in Michigan and Ilhan Omar in Minnesota, now the first Muslim women elected to Congress, and Ayanna Pressley in Massachusetts, now the first black woman elected to Congress in her state.
“Alexandria, Ilhan, Ayanna. I love these names!” Tlaib said at a September summit celebrating women of color in politics. “Yes, you’re going to have to learn how to say our names.”
