[1][2][3] As the results were tabulated, the race drew national recognition when it became clear that Ocasio-Cortez would win over Crowley, the Democratic Caucus Chairman and a 10-term incumbent.

Ocasio-Cortez began her campaign in April 2017[4] while waiting tables and tending bar at Flats Fix, a taqueria in New York City's Union Square.

Crowley, who had been named as a potential successor to Nancy Pelosi as House Leader or Speaker, sought re-election in 2018.

First elected to the seat in 1998, Crowley replaced Thomas J. Manton who, having already circulated petitions and filed for re-election, withdrew on the last day it was legally possible.

[13] Ocasio-Cortez began her campaign in April 2017[4] while waiting tables and tending bar at Flats Fix, a taqueria in New York City's Union Square.

[26] Nixon, like Ocasio-Cortez, also challenged a long-time incumbent: She ran against Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo in the 2018 New York gubernatorial election,[27] but lost by 66% to 34%.

[31] On June 15, the candidates' only face-to-face encounter during the campaign occurred on a local political talk show, Inside City Hall.

[36] Her win, and Crowley's defeat, came as a shock to many political commentators and analysts, and immediately garnered nationwide attention.

The Post also wrote that "Pappas' bid was a long shot," since the 14th has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+29, making it the sixth most Democratic district in New York City.

[59] Ocasio-Cortez described the WEP, which Governor Cuomo created ahead of the 2014 New York gubernatorial election, as a cynical, centrist group that endorsed male incumbents over female challengers like her and Nixon.

[61] Dan Cantor, Executive Director of the WFP, wrote an endorsement of, and apology to, Ocasio-Cortez for the New York Daily News.

[64] The first media network to give Ocasio-Cortez a platform and extensively cover her campaign and policies was The Young Turks (TYT), a left-wing online news program.

[4] After her primary win, she quickly garnered nationwide media attention, including numerous articles and TV talk-show appearances.

In The New Yorker, Benjamin Wallace-Wells wrote that while Sanders remained "the de-facto leader of an increasingly popular left, [he is unable to] do things that do not come naturally to him, like supply hope."

Wallace-Wells suggested that Ocasio-Cortez had made Sanders's task easier, as he could point to her success to show that ideas "once considered to be radical are now part of the mainstream.

"[66] Until she defeated incumbent Joe Crowley in the 2018 Democratic primary, Ocasio-Cortez received little coverage on most traditional news media outlets.

[69] After her primary win, Brian Stelter wrote that progressive-media outlets, such as The Young Turks and The Intercept, "saw the Ocasio-Cortez upset coming" in advance.

[46] Margaret Sullivan wrote in The Washington Post that traditional metrics of measuring a campaign's viability, like total fundraising, were contributing to a "media failure.

"[68] Ocasio-Cortez's campaign was featured on the cover of the June 2018 edition of The Indypendent,[70][71] a free New York City-based monthly newspaper.

[4] In November 2018, on the first day of congressional orientation, Ocasio-Cortez participated in a climate change protest outside the office of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

"[75] During the orientation for new members hosted by the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter in December 2018 about the influence of corporate interests by sponsors such as the American Enterprise Institute and the Center for Strategic and International Studies: "Lobbyists are here.

[80][81] She advocates a progressive platform that includes Medicare for All, a federal jobs guarantee, the Green New Deal,[82] abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, free public college and trade school, and a 70% marginal tax rate on millionaire fortunes.

[84] Many social media users came to her defense, inspiring memes and a Twitter account syncing the footage to songs like "Mambo No.

"[85] Ocasio-Cortez responded by posting a lighthearted video of herself dancing to Edwin Starr's "War" outside her congressional office.

[86] In January 2019, the documentary Knock Down the House, which focuses on four female Democrats in the 2018 United States elections who were not career politicians, including Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush, and Paula Jean Swearengin, premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.