What to know about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman to be elected to Congress
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., first made a political splash when she beat former U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary for New York’s 14th District in June 2018.
The 30-year-old congresswoman made waves yet again when she chose not to attend President Trump’s third State of the Union address Tuesday.
"After much deliberation, I have decided that I will not use my presence at a state ceremony to normalize Trump’s lawless conduct & subversion of the Constitution," she tweeted Tuesday afternoon. "None of this is normal, and I will not legitimize it. Consequently, I will not be attending the State of the Union."
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Ocasio-Cortez is a Democratic Socialist, which means she supports Medicare-for-all, tuition-free public colleges and universities and a guaranteed living wage for all Americans, she told Business Insider last year.
She also released the Green New Deal with Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., last year.
The climate proposal calls for massive investments in climate-friendly infrastructure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. It has been estimated that it could end up costing around $93 trillion.
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Here are five other things to know about Ocasio-Cortez.
She was born in the Bronx
Ocasio-Cortez’s father was a small business owner from the South Bronx and her mother was from Puerto Rico, according to her 2018 election website. Ocasio-Cortez herself was born in the Bronx but attended school in Yorktown in Westchester County, New York, and commuted between the two areas.
When she was 19 years old and a sophomore at Boston University her father died, she told The Intercept.
She had some political experience before running her own campaign
While she was studying economics and international relations at Boston University, Ocasio-Cortez worked for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, according to her website.
In 2016, she also volunteered as an organizer for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, according to Ozy.
She has a comet named after her
When she was in high school, she won second place in a global science competition, so MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory named an asteroid after her, Ozy reported.
It’s called 23238 Ocasio-Cortez, according to the website.
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She was a ‘Star Trek’ fan
In 2018, she tweeted that she used to watch “Star Trek: Voyager” when she was growing up.
“As a kid, my parents let me stay up late to watch Captain Janeway lead her crew home through desperate straits, while lost in the galaxy,” she tweeted.
“Couldn’t have had a better example of a leader for these times. Thank you@TheKateMulgrew!" she added, thanking actress Kate Mulgrew who played the Starfleet captain.
She is the youngest woman elected to Congress
When she was elected in November 2018, Ocasio-Cortez was just 29 years old, making her the youngest woman to ever be elected to Congress.
The previous record-holder was Elise Stefanik, who was 30 years old when she was elected to represent New York’s 21st District in 2014, according to Roll Call at the time. Stefanik remains the youngest Republican woman to be elected to Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez is also the first congressperson to represent the demographics of New York’s 14th District, she said in a NowThis video.
“Our district is 70 percent people of color, and we have never had a person of color represent us in American history,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
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This report contains material from previous FOX Business stories.