Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is an American politician and activist who serves as the U.S. Representative for New York’s 14th congressional district. The district includes the eastern part of the Bronx and portions of north-central Queens in New York City. She is a member of the Democratic Party, and her victory in the 2018 election made her the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx to working-class Puerto Rican parents. She attended Yorktown High School before studying economics and international relations at Boston University. After graduating from college, she returned to New York City to work as a community organizer with the nonprofit National Hispanic Institute. She later worked as a bartender and waitress to help support her family after her father died unexpectedly in 2008.
In 2016, Ocasio-Cortez ran for office for the first time, challenging incumbent Democratic Representative Joe Crowley in the primary election for New York’s 14th congressional district. Although Crowley was considered a potential candidate for Speaker of the House, Ocasio-Cortez defeated him in a major upset. She then went on to win the general election against Republican Anthony Pappas, making her the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
Since taking office, Ocasio-Cortez has been an outspoken progressive voice in Congress, advocating for policies such as Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and tuition-free public colleges and universities. She has also been a critic of President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies on immigration, climate change, and economic inequality.
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Personal life
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born on October 13, 1989, in the Bronx borough of New York City. Her father, Sergio Ocasio, is from Yauco, Puerto Rico, and her mother, Blanca Ocasio-Cortez, is from the South Bronx. She has two sisters, one older and one younger. Alexandria’s father passed away in 2008 from lung cancer.
In the 2018 election campaign, Ocasio-Cortez resided in Parkchester, Bronx, with her partner web developer Riley Roberts. They got engaged in April 2022 in Puerto Rico.
Ocasio-Cortez has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration and has said that she would like to see him impeached. She has also been a vocal supporter of Bernie Sanders and has said that she would vote for him in the 2020 presidential election.
Alexandria grew up in a working-class family and attended public schools in New York City. She graduated from Boston University with a degree in economics and international relations. After college, she worked as a bartender and waitress while she was campaigning for Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign in 2016.
In 2018, Alexandria ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York’s 14th congressional district and defeated incumbent Democrat Joe Crowley in the primary election. She then went on to win the general election and became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress at the age of 29.
Career
After working as a bartender and waitress, Ocasio-Cortez became a community organizer with the nonprofit organization, National Hispanic Institute. She then interned for U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. In 2016, she worked as a campaign organizer for Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign.
In June 2018, Ocasio-Cortez won the Democratic Party primary in New York’s 14th congressional district. She ran on a progressive platform, calling for Medicare for All, tuition-free public college, and the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). She unseated 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley in one of the biggest upsets in the 2018 midterm elections.
Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
U.S. House of Representatives
In the 2018 midterm elections, Ocasio-Cortez ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York’s 14th congressional district, which includes parts of the Bronx and Queens. She won the Democratic primary on June 26, 2018, defeating incumbent Joe Crowley, a ten-term incumbent and the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, with 58% of the vote to his 42%. She became the youngest woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives upon her swearing-in at age 29.
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Awards and honors
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been the recipient of several awards and honors. In 2018, she was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.” She has also been honored by Glamour magazine as one of their “Women of the Year,” and by Rolling Stone as one of their “25 under 25.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is an amazing young woman who has accomplished a great deal in a very short amount of time. She is an excellent role model for young people everywhere who are looking to make a difference in the world. We can all learn a lot from her story and her example.
