Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born on October 13, 1989, in the Bronx, New York City, to a family of Puerto Rican descent. She attended Boston University, where she graduated cum laude in 2011 with a double major in international relations and economics. During her college years, she worked as an intern in the immigration office of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. After graduation, she returned to the Bronx and worked as a community organizer, an educator for the National Hispanic Institute, and as a waitress and bartender to support her family following her father's death. In 2018, Ocasio-Cortez ran for the U.S. House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party. She gained national attention by defeating the high-ranking Democratic incumbent, Joe Crowley, in a significant primary upset. She won the general election in November 2018 and was sworn into office on January 3, 2019, representing New York's 14th congressional district. At age 29, she became the youngest woman ever elected to the United States Congress. Since then, she has been reelected in 2020, 2022, and 2024, and has served on committees including Financial Services and Oversight and Accountability.

Ocasio-Cortez identifies as a democratic socialist and advocates for a progressive policy platform. Her central environmental proposal is the Green New Deal, which seeks to transition the U.S. to 100% renewable energy while creating millions of jobs. In healthcare, she supports 'Medicare for All,' a single-payer system providing universal coverage. Her economic positions include raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, increasing taxes on high-income earners and wealthy corporations, and providing tuition-free public college. On immigration, she has called for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and supports a pathway to citizenship. Additionally, she advocates for housing as a human right, criminal justice reform, and an anti-interventionist foreign policy that prioritizes human rights.