Who Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Joe Crowley Loses New York Primary To Newcomer

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in New York primary election Tuesday.

The 28-year-old activist is a first-time candidate and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. She won over people with a viral introduction video, which showed her riding the subway and doing community organizing work.

Her proposals include a jobs guarantee, Medicare for all and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"This is not an end, this is the beginning. This is the beginning because the message that we sent the world tonight is that it's not OK to put donors before your community," she said Tuesday night, CNN reported.

"You have given this country hope, you have given this country proof that when you knock on your neighbor's door, when you come to them with love, when you let them know that no matter your stance, you are there for them — that we can make change," she added.

Crowley stumbled in his campaign and missed a debate in the Bronx with Ocasio-Cortez citing scheduling conflicts.

Calling his absence disrespectful to the entire community, she said, "I understand he hasn't been challenged for 14 years but that doesn't mean that an election isn't happening. In fact, what's happening right now is historic and it's an opportunity to show up for the community.”

Last weekend, Ocasio-Cortez joined protests at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Texas.

"The reason I was able to do that is because we have built a legitimately strong grassroots movement of organizers here to hold it down for 24 to 48 hours," she said.

"I think that's reflective of the strength of what we have built here. It was an advantage, actually, because our community here really wanted to do something and they didn't want to feel like they were choosing organizing the campaign over choosing to comment and organize around this moment,” she added.

She won the support of party's left wing headed by Bernie Sanders.

"She took on the entire local Democratic establishment in her district and won a very strong victory. She demonstrated once again what progressive grassroots politics can do," Sanders tweeted after Ocasio-Cortez's victory.

According to her profile, Ocasio-Cortez was born in Bronx to working-class parents. Her father is from South Bronx and mother from Puerto Rico. The state of public schools in Bronx prompted her parents to put her in a public school in Yorktown, which was 40 minutes away from where she lived.

She then went on to earn degrees in Economics and International Relations from Boston University and while there, she handled foreign affairs under the late Sen. Kennedy.

She later returned to Bronx and began to pursue work in the areas like education and community organizing and also started projects to help improve skills in young children. Her father passed away in 2008 and after that, she had to work for 18 hours in various restaurants to help her family economically.