Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) is an United States democratic Representative for New York’s 14th congressional district. She was elected in November 2018 and took office in January of 2019. Her main focuses are associated with working class people and fixing economic inequality. She also supports other liberal issues like the Green New Deal which is a legislature she played a significant part in creating that has the goal of combating climate change and living more sustainably. It is considered a liberal cause because climate change has traditionally been a democratic cause.

Ocasio-Cortez was first noticed by the public when she advocated for Bernie Sanders and volunteered to aid in his campaign in 2016. She then went on to launch her own campaign, which was not funded by any large group like the Democratic Party or lobbying groups. She surprised many when she won the election because she was running against the ten-term candidate, Joe Crowley. 

Many young people support her because of her strong democratic views. On her political website it outlines her beliefs including the topics: Criminal Justice Reform, Economic Inequality, Education, Gun Control, Healthcare, and Immigration. Her beliefs are not popular among all people, especially not Republicans, but she is admired by the many of the working-class, women, and minorities of New York.

Another reason why people support AOC is that she is a young, strong woman and is one of the first women to have this much political power. At the age of 29, she is the youngest woman to ever serve in the United States Congress. She is a role model to many young women as she stands up for both her beliefs, her people, and herself. 

One of the times that she stood up for herself turned into a TikTok trend that circulated the app on her birthday. In the trend it uses a recording of one of her public announcements from July 2020 combating an insult from Ted Yoho. In her speech Ocasio-Cortez says, “I have to show my parents that I am their daughter and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men.” This line is used in the TikTok trend. In that speech, she not only encouraged women to stand up for themselves, but she stood up for them too.

“I like her because she is very ambitious and is willing to use her voice in a male-dominated area to help the working class,” said Mandy Bechman, junior graduate.

Bechman explained that she agrees with most of AOC’s stances on politics, but that the thing she likes most about her is her ambition. This is just one of the qualities that make Ocasio-Cortez admirable to her supporters. Although with political candidates, opinions of them usually come down to their specific views.

More information about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign and issues can be found on https://www.ocasiocortez.com.