Alexandria Ocasio, the new Democratic representative of Puerto Rican origin
After her victory in New York's Democratic primary, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become an electoral phenomenon in the United States
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a Latina activist and politician, who at 28 years old will be representative of the U.S. House of Representatives after winning New York's Democratic primary. Ocasio-Cortez is a young woman of humble origins, daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants. According to the official page of the politician, "his father owned a local business in South Bronx. His mother was born in Puerto Rico and grew up near Arecibo in a large family. She was from a working class family: her mother cleaned homes and the whole family contributed to the family business." For this reason, explained the portal, Ocasio-Cortez has always wanted to help the working class of New York.
Leer en español: Alexandria Ocasio, la nueva representante de los jóvenes de origen puertorriqueño
The Puerto Rican is someone who can understand the needs of the New Yorkers. On the one hand, the young woman suffered the hardships of the middle class. On the other hand, the young woman born in the Bronx speaks English and Spanish, so she is a personality that can represent the needs of Latinos and Americans.
How did she win her first election?
According to the Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día, her first major victory in the Democratic primary was driven by a large number of people who joined her political cause. The campaign was also impelled with donations from ordinary people as well as from organizations in favor of New York's working class. The same media explained that at first her victory was very unlikely due to the experience of her opponent, the Democratic representative Joe Crowley. However, the Puerto Rican could overcome all odds and beat Crowley by 15 percentage points, as stated in the newspaper Primera Hora.
According to the designer Shadya López, the success of Ocasio-Cortez is due in large part to the young people, to whom she addressed her campaign. "The image she projected made her closer to young New Yorkers," she explained. This can be seen in the posters created for her political campaign. Andres O'Hara of Gothamist said that "what they created was one of the most unique campaign posters and brand identities in modern politics."
The influence of the Democratic leader
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a young woman who has given her support to new political actors. Rashida Tlaib, for example, is a lawyer of Palestinian origin who settled in the United States. According to Nuevo Día, when she started the Democratic primaries of 2018, the Puerto Rican decided to boost her candidacy in the State of Michigan, a mostly white state of Irish, English, and Polish descent, according to the Michigan institutional portal. Rashida Tlaib won the Democratic primary in Michigan, beating five big Democrats candidates. Now, she is expected to win the general voting without any opposition.
Another similar case is that of James Thompson in Arkansas. According to Nuevo Diario, Thompson won the primary elections in his state comfortably after receiving strong support from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders. This week, the American activist traveled to Hawaii to support the Democratic candidate Kaniela Ing.
The campaign of Alexandria Ocasio has been a phenomenon in the United States. As Nuevo Diario points out, her own voters know the reason for her success: "her daring attitude against the establishment". In addition, the Democratic Party invited her to participate in an event in California, because in that state there are frictions between the most conservative and liberal wings of the party. The Democratic directives hope that Osorio can reach agreements between the parties, due to her great leadership capacity and enthusiasm for politics.
LatinAmerican Post | Miguel Díaz
Translated from "Alexandria Ocasio, la nueva representante de los jóvenes de origen puertorriqueño"
