Anna Leigh - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Political Headliner

Lerner Publications Minneapolis

For Courtney

Copyright 2020 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

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Image credits: Win McNamee/Getty Images, pp. 2, 6, 29; Scott Heins/Getty Images, pp. 8, 9, 19, 23; Scott Kowalchyk/CBS/Getty Images, p. 10; David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe/Getty Images, p. 13; Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images, p. 14; Brett Carlsen/Getty Images, p. 15; Emily Molli/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images, p. 17; DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images, pp. 18, 27; Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images, p. 21; Spencer Platt/Getty Images, p. 22; J Pat Carter/Washington Post)/Getty Images, p. 24; Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images, pp. 28, 30; SAUL LOEB/ AFP/Getty Images, p. 31; Alex Wong/Getty Images, pp. 32, 37; Cheriss May/NurPhoto/Getty Images, p. 33; BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images, p. 34; Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images, p. Cover images: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Leigh, Anna, author.

Title: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez : political headliner / Anna Leigh.

Description: Minneapolis : Lerner Publications, 2020. | Series: Gateway biographies | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Audience: Ages | Audience: Grades | Summary: American politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever to serve in the US Congress. Learn about the most fascinating details of her life and her career in the House of RepresentativesProvided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019028046 (print) | LCCN 2019028047 (ebook) | ISBN 9781541577473 (library binding) | ISBN 9781541588875 (paperback) | ISBN 9781541583054 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria, 1989 Juvenile literature. | United States. Congress. HouseBiographyJuvenile literature. | Women legislatorsUnited States BiographyJuvenile literature. | LegislatorsUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature.

Classification: LCC E901.1.O27 L45 2020 (print) | LCC E901.1.O27 (ebook) | DDC 328.73/092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019028046

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019028047

Manufactured in the United States of America

1-46770-47761-9/17/2019

Contents

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is sworn in during a congressional hearing in July 2019.

T wenty-eight-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was on her way to an election watch party in the Bronx, New York, on June 26, 2018. For more than a year, she had been campaigning to become the districts Democratic nominee for Congress, and tonight she would find out if her efforts had been successful.

Many people thought it was unlikely she would win. Ocasio-Cortez was running against Joe Crowley, a Democrat who had been in Congress for twenty years. She had never held political office before, she was much younger than most people in Congress, and she didnt have a lot of politically experienced people on her campaign team. Her campaign also had less money than Crowleys. She had refused to accept large donations from businesses or political organizations, so her campaign had raised just hundreds of thousands of dollars compared to her opponents millions.

Major news outlets had not bothered to cover Ocasio-Cortezs campaign, thinking there was no way she would beat Crowley. Crowley didnt take her campaign seriously either. When the two were supposed to debate as

part of the campaign, he said he had scheduling conflicts and didnt show up.

Three weeks before the election, polls showed that Ocasio-Cortez was behind in the race. But Ocasio-Cortez didnt give up hope. She knew that polls tried to predict who was likely to vote in an election. Her campaign, however, targeted young people and minorities in her communitypeople who were considered unlikely to vote in an election like this one. If she could change the people who voted, she could change the outcome of the vote.

On Election Day, Ocasio-Cortez didnt check her phone or try to see what the early numbers were. Instead, she planned to join her campaign team and supporters to watch

Ocasio-Cortez celebrates with supporters at a victory party in the Bronx after upsetting incumbent Democratic representative Joseph Crowley on June 26, 2018.

as the results came in. When she arrived at the watch party, she noticed a crowd of reporters running toward the building where her party was being held. Ocasio-Cortez started running too.

As she entered the party, she looked up at a TV and saw that the results were already in. She brought her hands to her mouth in shock as people crowded around her. She had won the electionand it wasnt close. She had won by four thousand votes.

A video of Ocasio-Cortezs reaction to her win went viral online. The news outlets that had ignored Ocasio-Cortez during her campaign finally took notice of her. They reported that her win was a huge upset, and they wondered how she had pulled it off. Newspapers and magazines wrote articles about her, and TV shows