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But ever since Ms. Ocasio-Cortez became the youngest woman elected to Congress in 2018, her every move has been scrutinized by both sides of the political spectrum, especially those on the right.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing New York's 14th Congressional District. She assumed office on January 3, 2019. Her current term ends on January 3, 2023. Ocasio-Cortez (Democratic Party, Working Families Party) ran for re-election to the U.S. House to represent New York's 14th Congressional District.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be the youngest woman ever elected into Congress following her midterm election win Tuesday. The 29-year-old New York Democrat skyrocketed into the national spotlight.
Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will win reelection to New York's 14th Congressional District against two challengers, Republican John C. Cummings and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera of the Serve America Movement party, CNN projects.

By/Jan. 7, 2019 4:42 pm EST/Updated: Jan. 2, 2021 12:50 am EST

Ocasio-Cortez will win reelection to New York's 14th Congressional District against two challengers, Republican John C. Cummings and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera of the Serve America Movement party, CNN.

If you've got access to the internet and even a slight interest in politics, chances are you've heard of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The self-described Democratic socialist made national headlines in June 2018 after defeating longtime U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley in the Democratic congressional primary in New York, and she made them again in November 2018, when she claimed a landslide victory against Republican opponent Anthony Pappas. Ocasio-Cortez did this as a near political novice with an entirely grassroots campaign centered around health care reform, gun control, raising the federal minimum wage, and the legalization of marijuana.

Though her name is now routinely in the news, there are a few things that people might not know about the rising star of the Democratic party, including her love for yoga, the fact that she's pretty decent in the performing arts, and her true feelings about the outcome of her congressional bid. Let's dive into the untold truth of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

From nothing to something

Ocasio-Cortez's life hasn't been all smooth sailing. She was born in the Bronx where 'your zip code determines your destiny,' Ocasio-Cortez said of the city in her campaign video. Her father ran a small, struggling business while her mother cleaned houses. According to her website, her parents moved to nearby Yorktown, N.Y. to gain access to better public schools. 'As a result, much of her early life was spent in transit between her tight-knit extended family in the Bronx and her daily student life .. The 40-minute drive represented a vastly different quality of available schooling, economic opportunity, and health outcomes.'

When her father died in 2008, things got tough again. To help her family stay afloat, Ocasio-Cortez picked up gigs in restaurants and bars. 'I was shoulder to shoulder with undocumented people in the back of house,' she said (via Remezcla). In fact, Ocasio-Cortez was waiting tables and bartending just a year before winning her congressional bid, reported Business Insider, and her financial struggles continued even after winning. In a 2018 interview with The New York Times, Ocasio-Cortez told the publication that she couldn't afford rent in Washington D.C. until her congressional salary kicked in.

A work in progress

Some people might see her as a newly minted politician, but the truth is, Ocasio-Cortez has been molding her political career for years. She attended Boston University, where she majored in economics and international relations and participated in 'organizations that empower minorities. She got her first political break there, working under the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) on immigration casework and foreign affairs.

Ocasio Cortez Election 2020

After she graduated, she moved back to her hometown and got a job as an educational director in her community, where she worked with 'promising high school youth to expand their skill-sets in community leadership and social enterprise,' according to her website. In 2016, she worked on Sen. Bernie Sanders' (D-Vt.) presidential campaign as an organizer (via The New York Post). Sanders seems proud of how far she's come, posting an excited tweet congratulating her on an 'extraordinary upset victory' in the New York primary and underscoring 'what progressive grassroots politics can do.'

She's a clapback queen

Every politician has his or her haters, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is no exception. But this politician isn't afraid to hit back when she needs to. Take the time she got into it with Donald Trump Jr. after he shared a post in December 2018 suggesting that her Democratic socialist views would lead to Americans eating dogs. She responded by calling him a 'troll' and issuing an indirect threat to use her subpoena power as a member of the House of Representatives against him.

There was also the time in July 2018 when conservative news host John Cardillo claimed Ocasio-Cortez lied about her 'Bronx hood upbringing.' In an attempt to prove his point, Cardillo tweeted a photo of her childhood home in Yorktown, N.Y., adding that she lived there until she attended the Ivy League Brown University. Ocasio-Cortez schooled him with some stone-cold facts. 'Hey John .. I didn't go to Brown or the Ivy League. I went to [Boston University]. Try Google,' she began. Speaking about her childhood home, Ocasio-Cortez added, 'It is nice. Growing up, it was a good town for working people. My mom scrubbed toilets so I could live here & I grew up seeing how the zip code one is born in determines much of their opportunity.'

Dreams of the White House?

She might be a relative rookie to the government thing, but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reportedly has a big dream. 'Her aspiration is to be the president,' said her mother, Blanca Ocasio-Cortez, to the New York Post. 'She has been thinking about politics since she was a teenager. She would read historical and political books old and new. She would engage in political discussions passionately.'

Alexandria, however, pushed back on the possibility of running for president in a later interview with Vogue, telling the publication she would 'never' do such a thing. Instead, she said, 'I want to be the kooky old lady who brings her cats to the floor of Congress and says, 'Here's the right thing to do.' I just want to be chilling with Sonia Sotomayor, wearing gold hoop earrings with a big old FU and a pretty necklace.' Who knows whether she's serious or simply trying to get a feel for things first, but it looks like she might have at least one vote — former President Barack Obama is already a fan.

She was caught off guard by her win

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez didn't just shock the world when she defeated ten-term incumbent Rep. Joseph Crowley in the congressional primary — she shocked herself! Speaking to the Associated Press after her victory, the liberal activist called the outcome of the election a 'surprise.' While she admitted that she thought winning was possible, Ocasio-Cortez suggested that she had qualms about whether a grassroots campaign would succeed in her community.

When asked why she thought she won, Ocasio-Cortez said she believes it was because she was 'on the ground .. knocking [on] a lot of doors personally .. talking to members of our community .. and taking up a lot of space and a lot of presence physically in the community.' Crowley, on the other hand, missed some key opportunities that may have helped his bid. Ocasio-Cortez offered her thoughts on his apparent lack of effort to Rolling Stone, telling the publication that sexism may have caused him to underestimate her. 'She's uninformed, she's young, she's naive, she's nothing to worry about,' Ocasio-Cortez speculated of his attitude toward her. 'I was ignored for 99.9 percent of my campaign, and I liked it that way.'

Making history

After defeating her Republican rival Anthony Pappas in the Nov. 6, 2018 midterm elections, the left-wing star, who turned 29 the month prior, became the youngest woman ev

Ocasio Cortez Elected