Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the entire Squad all win re-election – and they’ve got some new recruits
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib (L-R) (Alex Wroblewski/Getty)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of her progressive Squad have all won re-election, along with a handful of new allies.
The four women – Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan – were all returned to the House of Representatives with thumping majorities.
“Our sisterhood is resilient,” tweeted Omar, who won 64.6 per cent of votes in Minnesota’s 5th District.
“Together, we have fought for our shared humanity. We have organised. We have mobilised. We have legislated our values,” added Pressley, who swept Massachusetts’ 7th District with 87.5 per cent.
Ocasio-Cortez won almost 70 per cent of votes in New York’s 14th District with 91 per cent reporting, with Michigan’s 13th District declared for Rashida Tlaib.
Our sisterhood is resilient. pic.twitter.com/IfLtsvLEdx
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 4, 2020
Justice Democrats, the progressive group that helped elect the four Squad members in 2018, celebrated adding another three to their number.
Jamaal Bowman of New York’s 16th District, Cori Bush of Missouri’s 1st District, and Marie Newman of Illinois’ 3rd District were all elected, having each been endorsed by the organisation.
“The Squad is continuing to grow and it will hold the next administration accountable to a bold governing agenda,” said Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats.
“The congress Joe Biden could likely be inheriting is far more progressive than the one Barack Obama inherited in 2009 and can help make the Biden administration the most progressive administration in generations.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez remains cautious about election result.
AOC celebrated her re-election by thanking the Bronx and Queens for choosing her “despite the millions spent against us, and trusting me to represent you once more.”
The Democrat, a powerful ally of the LGBT+ community, beat off a costly challenge from the Republicans, who raised almost $10 million in its bid to unseat her. In return, Democrats raised more than $17 million, making the race the second most expensive House contest in the US.
“Serving NY-14 and fighting for working class families in Congress has been the greatest honour, privilege and responsibility of my life,” she added, however was cautious when it came to the national result, which remains in flux.
Lamenting Joe Biden’s underperformance with Latino voters, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: “I won’t comment much on tonight’s results as they are evolving and ongoing, but I will say we’ve been sounding the alarm about Dem vulnerabilities w/ Latinos for a long, long time.
“There is a strategy and a path, but the necessary effort simply hasn’t been put in Downwards arrow.”
According to a CNN exit poll, Donald Trump increased his share of Latino voters in Florida from 25 per cent to almost half, with Biden also using support among the community in the key states of Georgia and Ohio.
