Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

We have a political culture of intimidation, of favoring, of patronage, and of fear, and that is no way for a community to be governed. ”

I think - I do think that we have to have a secure border. We need to make sure that people are, in fact, documented. But that doesn't mean that we threaten people's lives. ”

I knew that our community needed a very clear voice. and I think we deserved representation that rejected lobbyist funds and put our voters and our community first. ”

I'm used to people kind of knowing me in the community. ”

My mother cleaned homes and drove school buses, and when my family was on the brink of foreclosure... I started bartending and waitressing. ”

I wasn't born to a wealthy or powerful family - mother from Puerto Rico, dad from the South Bronx. ”

Change takes courage. ”

People try to identify who is the most likely person to turn out, and what we did is that we changed who turns out. And that changes the whole electorate. ”

It's not just that I'm a woman of color running for office. It's the way that I ran. It's the way that my identity formed my methods. ”

To me, what socialism means is to guarantee a basic level of dignity. It's asserting the value of saying that the America we want and the America that we are proud of is one in which all children can access a dignified education. It's one in which no person is too poor to have the medicines they need to live. ”