Kim Davis, Dead Brothel Owner, Young Socialist, Minority Firsts: 4 Interesting Election Outcomes
Young socialist
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gained national media attention as she unexpectedly upended the fourth-ranking House Democrat in the primary election for New York's 14th Congressional District.
On Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez became the youngest woman to be elected to Congress by beating a little-known Republican candidate Anthony Pappas by a wide margin in a reliably blue district that covers the Bronx and Queens.
The 29-year-old Ocasio-Cortez has become somewhat of a darling to many on the far-left because of her Bernie Sanders-like claims of being a "democratic socialist" and her support for ideas like government-paid health care, free college tuition, raising the minimum wage to $15, and abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In a victory speech Tuesday night, Ocasio-Cortez declared that her victory is much more than a campaign or election. She called it a "larger movement for social, economic and racial justice in the United States of America."
Prior to Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman elected to Congress was upstate New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, who was elected at the age of 30 in 2014.