Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old political newcomer, has become an overnight sensation after she upset longtime Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., in the congressional primary Tuesday night.
"The community is ready for a movement of economic and social justice. That is what we tried to deliver," Ocasio-Cortez said upon her win.
Here are five things you need to know about her:
1. She comes from the Bronx — Ocasio-Cortez was born and raised by middle-class Puerto Rican parents living in the Bronx, CNN reported. She went on to study economics and international relations at Boston University. During that time, her father passed away.
2. She bartended to help her single mom — The death of her father left a financial burden on Ocasio-Cortez's mother's shoulders, who worked as a house cleaner and bus driver, Busines Insider noted. After graduating, Ocasio-Cortez took up bartending and waitressing to help supplement her mother's income.
3. Her family home was almost lost — Following the death of her father, her family nearly lost their home due to financial difficulty, Ocasio-Cortez told The Intercept.
"We just couldn’t afford to keep our home, and we had bankers going up to the curb of our home and taking photos of our house," she said. Her mother and grandmother eventually sold the house before it was lost.
4. She has political experience — While this was officially Ocasio-Cortez's first run for office, she cultivated previous political experience working first with Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and then as an organizer for Bernie Sanders' 2016 campaign, Business Insider noted.
5. Her team does not accept corporate PAC funding — Ocasio-Cortez said she refused to accept corporate PAC funding, calling it "disingenuous to ... pretend the sources of our money don’t impact the policy we write. You just can’t serve two masters," according to The HuffPost.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.