In the midst of a tumultuous week, we’d like to lift up an event of tremendous proportions.
Twenty-eight-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, outspent 18:1, defeated 10-term Rep. Joe Crowley by 12 points in the Democratic primary for a House seat in New York’s 14th District.
Surely, the buzz will continue about the implications for Democratic Congressional leadership, the 2018 Congressional elections, and for the nation in the upcoming weeks, especially as the traditional mainstream media largely ignored the campaign of the former Bernie Sanders organizer.
But for now, we’ll pass on three observations.
- She is part of groups extremely underrepresented in Congress versus the overall population. (Congress is about -12 percent for Hispanic-Americans, -31 percent for women, and -20 percent for millennials versus the US.)
- Her platform for equality and opportunity – Medicare for all, a nationwide $15 minimum wage, tuition-free public universities, 100 percent renewable energy — is similar to that which proved to be surprisingly resonant in 2016.
- Everything from her campaign to her personality (and her campaign personality) is an inspiration to us all.
Ocasio-Cortez is a rising Democratic star to watch and support.
–Veena Trehan, Chair, Global Women Task Force