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.
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.”