Queens, NY – U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley, a member of the Democratic House leadership, has been defeated by a 28-year-old challenger, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in the Democratic congressional primary in New York.
“We beat a machine with a movement, and that is what we have done today,” said Ocasio-Cortez, a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders who has never held elected office and whose candidacy attracted only modest media attention. “Working-class Americans want a clear champion and there is nothing radical about moral clarity in 2018.”
Crowley, 56, has been in Congress since 1999 and hadn’t faced an opponent in a primary election in 14 years, when the woman who beat him Tuesday was just a teenager. He was considered a candidate to become the next House speaker if Democrats win the majority.
Crowley represents New York’s 14th Congressional District, which includes parts of the Bronx and Queens, where he is also the leader of the Queens Democratic party.
Ocasio-Cortez ran a low-budget campaign and was outspent by an 18-1 margin but won the endorsement of some influential groups on the party’s far left, including MoveOn.
Born in the Bronx, Ocasio-Cortez said she decided to challenge Crowley to push a more progressive stance on economic and other issues.
As reported by Vos Iz Neias