Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who scored an upset victory in a congressional primary over Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., in June, visited lawmakers in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.
She held her first face-to-face meetings with liberal supporters and with members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, The Hill reported.
The candidate held separate meetings with Reps. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Mark Pocan, D-Wis., and had lunch with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., the report said.
Ocasio-Cortez said that her visit was designed to "get the lay of the land" in Washington. She is widely expected to win in her heavily Democratic New York district in the November election, the report said.
She is on board to "translating" her win to help other Democrats around the country, she told The Hill.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said that he encouraged Ocasio-Cortez to help Democrats win back control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections.
"I urged her to work towards that end, and I think she has an understanding that everybody does not have the district she has," Hoyer said, The Hill reported.
Grijalva, an 8-term congressman, gave Ocasio-Cortez advice during her meeting, The Hill reported. "Being genuine here is as important as anywhere else… I think she’ll figure it out," Grijalva said.
She stirred some controversy after endorsing some liberal primary candidates that are challenging Democratic incumbents, and has since spoken to Crowley and other Democratic leaders, the report said.
Ocasio-Cortez has proudly called herself a democratic socialist, leading to concerns that she would become a left-wing version of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, an uncompromising group whose actions have divided the Republican conference, The Hill reported.
However, Khanna dismissed that concern. "She’s very interested in building relationships. She wouldn’t be in D.C. meeting with different members of Congress if she weren’t," said Khanna, The Hill reported.
"She’s bringing new energy, organizing people, and I love it, keep going," said Khanna, Politico reported.
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