Amidst the terror of Trump and his Republican reign of cruelty, the resistance continues, and I’m celebrating a big win for grassroots activist and card-carrying Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She defeated the very well-funded New York Democrat incumbent:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old Latina running her first campaign, ousted 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in New York’s 14th congressional district on Tuesday, CNN projects, in the most shocking upset of a rollicking political season.
An activist and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Ocasio-Cortez won over voters in the minority-majority district with a ruthlessly efficient grassroots bid, even as Crowley — the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House — outraised her by a 10-to-1 margin. https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/26/politics/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-joe-crowley-new-york-14-primary/index.html
The progressive train keeps rolling, but the engine is common folk and regular voters who hit the streets to vote in the “radicals.”
More, on the upset:
Ocasio-Cortez, who would be the youngest member of Congress if she, as expected, wins in November, is a former organizer for Bernie Sanders and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. She joined protesters at the Standing Rock demonstration against a natural gas pipeline…..
The Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, who is under pressure to step aside and pave the way for a new generation, insisted the win for the left of the party was not representative of a wider trend.
Pelosi said: “They made a choice in one district. The fact that in a very progressive district in New York, it went more progressive … is about that district. It is not to be viewed as something that stands for anything else.”….
The daughter of a Puerto Rican mother and Bronx-born father, Ocasio-Cortez was raised in a working-class community and took on a second job waiting tables to help her family avoid foreclosure….
Crowley, the head of the Queens county Democratic party and the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, was widely rumored to have ambitions to succeed Pelosi if she stepped down. He had raised over $3m for his campaign, 10 times the amount raised by Ocasio-Cortez, who rejected corporate sponsors and relied on small donors…..
Ocasio-Cortez is also a part of a surge of Democratic women who decided to run for office after Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016. “Women like me aren’t supposed to run for office,” she said in a viral campaign ad. But like so many first-time female Democratic candidates – she ran and won on Tuesday…..
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/26/democrats-primaries-upset-joe-crowley-alexandria-osacio-cortez?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+USA+-+Collections+2017&utm_term=279391&subid=3330772&CMP=GT_US_collection
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Congrats! Very impressive.
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More on the membership surge:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/democratic-socialists-of-america-membership-surges-after-alexandria-ocasio-cortezs-stunning-victory
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Woot woot!
Thanks for passing that along. I hadn’t seen it yet. I’m a DSA member, I guess you could call me a card carrying socialist. =)
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