MSNBC’s Kornacki on millennial challenger beating Crowley: ‘This is a seismic political upset!’

MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki called the upset victory by 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a former organizer for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) presidential campaign, in New York’s 14th Congressional District a “seismic political upset.”

“We saw these numbers coming in, we couldn’t believe it. We checked, we reloaded. This is a seismic political upset!” said Kornacki, who serves as a national political correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC, during the network’s coverage of primary races late Tuesday

Ocasio-Cortez beat 10-term incumbent Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) easily, gaining 57.5 percent of the vote compared to his 42.5 percent.

{mosads}“To put this in some perspective,” Kornacki added, “Joe Crowley has been there since 1998, he was thought to be the next Democratic leader in waiting, potentially a Speaker of the House here, he runs the Queens County Democratic Party in the old sense of the word.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s victory in the district, which covers parts of New York boroughs Queens and the Bronx, sent shockwaves through the political world, with the former bartender being the top-trending topic on Twitter Wednesday morning.

“This photo is from Nov. 14, 2017. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, was then working as a bartender. Less than a year later, she defeated the likely next Speaker of the House, and will almost certainly be the youngest woman ever elected to Congress,” wrote Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein.

This photo is from Nov. 14, 2017. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, was then working as a bartender.

Less than a year later, she defeated the likely next Speaker of the House, and will almost certainly be the youngest woman ever elected to Congress pic.twitter.com/JgHjdQWAF6

— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) June 26, 2018

Ocasio-Cortez won despite Crowley outspending her nearly 10-to-1, with the incumbent spending $1.09 million to her $127,000.

Sanders took to Twitter to congratulate her, calling the victory “extraordinary.”

Congratulations to @Ocasio2018 on her extraordinary upset victory tonight! 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.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 26, 2018