Democrat Crowley ousted by political novice in US

The US Democratic Party was rocked to its core Tuesday as establishment congressman Joe Crowley – seen as a potential standardbearer – was ousted by a 28-year-old far-left political novice.

Crowley, a 10-term incumbent representing New York’s diverse 14th district and Number Four Democrat in the House of Representatives, had been considered a possible successor to Nancy Pelosi as party leader and even speaker, should Democrats reclaim the majority in November’s midterm elections.

Instead the 56-year-old Crowley, chairman of the Democratic caucus, suffered the biggest shock upset to date in the 2018 political season, losing his primary to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Bronx-born Latina activist and Bernie Sanders supporter who has never held elected office.

According to a detailed profile this week in Vogue, just months ago Ocasio-Cortez was still working as a server in a restaurant. She identifies as a Democratic socialist.

Her impressive 15 percentage point victory could spell a leftward shift for the party that is squaring up against President Donald Trump’s Republicans in the fall.

The campaign’s Facebook page of Ocasio-Cortez highlights her political positions – expanded Medicare for all and tuition-free college – that are similar to those put forward by Sanders, a Vermont socialist who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination against Hillary Clinton in 2016.