Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became the first and only challenger to defeat longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Sunnyside, Astoria, College Point, East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Corona, Woodside, The Bronx) on Tuesday night.
As of press time, Ocasio-Cortez captured nearly 58 percent, or about 15,000, of the vote versus Crowley’s 42 percent, or about 11,000.
“This nation is never beyond remedy, it is never beyond hope, it is never too broken to fix. We will be here, and we are going to rock the world for the next two years,” she said at her victory party.
The 28-year-old woman from the Bronx ran on a platform that consist of abolishing Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency, supporting Medicare-for-All, affordable housing, criminal justice reform, and more.
Ocasio-Cortez also highlighted the significant of her victory as the start of a change in politics.
“This is not an end, this is the beginning. This is the beginning because the message that we sent the world tonight is that it’s not OK to put donors before your community,” she said.
Her opponent, Joe Crowley, conceded the race to Alexandria and offered his full support to the young candidate.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to represent Queens and the Bronx. I am proud of the race we ran and, more importantly, proud of all the work we’ve done to advance this community. I want to congratulate Ms. Ocasio-Cortez on her victory tonight. I look forward to supporting her and all Democrats this November,” Crowley said.
Crowley also noted the importance of unifying Democrats together to stand against President Donald Trump and his administration.
“The Trump administration is a threat to everything we stand for here in Queens and the Bronx, and if we don’t win back the House this November, we will lose the nation we love. This is why we must come together. We will only be able to stop Donald Trump and the Republican Congress by working together, as a united Democratic Party,” he said.
Meanwhile, at his election night party, Crowley played a rendition of “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen as a tribute to the Democratic nominee.
Ocasio-Cortez will face her most likely Republican contender Anthony Pappas in this upcoming general election. The general election will occur November 6, 2018.
