by Arianna Genis, Deputy Communications Director, re:power
“This race is about people vs. money. They’ve got money, we’ve got people.”
In her viral campaign video, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez opens with a brilliant line: “Women like me aren’t supposed to run for office. I wasn’t born into a wealthy or powerful family…”
For far too long in mainstream politics, candidates like Ocasio-Cortez have been disregarded or deemed as unviable — they’re too risky, too young, too inexperienced, and too brown.
It’s why we’re so proud of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who won her primary in NY-14.
A Latina born in the Bronx, she’s brand new to public office and a proud community organizer and member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
At re:power we’re focused on building the ecosystem to grow these leaders like Alexandria, all over the country.
Alexandria won because her campaign team focused on the most important part of any campaign: people.
Here are some of the learning moments we took away from her campaign:
1. Design For Progressives
You’ve heard the saying — politicians campaign in poetry, and govern in prose. While that seems to be the standard model for most candidates, the Ocasio-Cortez campaign decided to run with a design approach that blew us out of the water.
The color scheme (bold purples, striking yellows, and a deep blue) is a shift from the traditional red, white, and blue imagery used by most progressive candidates. The use of the upside down exclamation point, a signal to Spanish speakers, is an authentic and powerful nod to her Puerto Rican heritage. The vibe is crisp, bold, and an homage to the organizing legacies of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez.
It ties back to her personal story and campaign message — she ran on the same legacies of hope, upward mobility, and a politics firmly rooted in her people. The choice to photograph her side profile, gazing upward — steely and determined — is deliberate. The design is very much inspired by the past but nods to the future, highlighting that young, working-class, people of color are the heartbeat of this movement.
2. A Charismatic Leader with a Community-Based Team
Alexandria’s opponent (the incumbent) raised $3 million dollars in the primary. His face and campaign story were all over major news networks and newspapers. Yet the very same mainstream media seemed to be unaware of this grassroots, exciting, and FUN campaign Ocasio-Cortez was running. The New York Times actually published a story asking who she was. But other less traditional media sources were covering her race — and we were watching.
Her campaign manager, Virginia Ramos Rios, identifies as an energy healer with previous electoral experience on the Bernie Sanders campaign and City Council. Her staff were a mixture of folks from growing progressive and social causes, not from the traditional Democratic Party machine.
Because her team was grounded in the lives and dreams of the people of the Bronx and Queens, they were able to have conversations with thousands of New Yorkers (some who’d never been engaged in electoral politics) to turn out to the polls on primary day. And it worked.
In our campaign trainings, we encourage potential candidates to choose leaders and staff that reflect their communities. This campaign showed us that it’s not just about one single, charismatic leader (though she very much is) but about a team of people working together to improve the community they care deeply about.
3. Challenging Dominant Narratives Online and Offline
A key component of our digital organizing trainings is teaching folks how to shift narrative, online and offline. The Ocasio-Cortez campaign was very intentional in using social media and digital tools to connect directly with their base, young progressives, and speak directly to them about the things they care about.
Authentic conversations online can happen at any moment, and about almost any topic — one of our favorites is this exchange where Alexandria responds to social media interest about her lipstick choice. (P.S. — the lipstick sold out almost immediately.) Female candidates are often ONLY asked about their fashion choices, and we love how she took this moment to flip that and communicate with her audience (young women), acknowledge their interests, which she can then parlay into another conversation about other issues.
This can easily come off as stilted and forced; but because she’s cultivated such a strong voice online, this exchange is authentic and you can almost hear her giving you this answer.
She also got a lot of flak for her “progressive agenda” — ideas that many of us are organizing for and fighting for, but are dismissed by the mainstream media and establishment. The very same policy positions and ideas that the progressive left wishes candidates would take on.
Many times candidates are told to soften their message, or obscure policy ideas in language that will be more appealing to the masses. Alexandria effectively used social media to speak directly to people, appeal to them, and present her ideas in digestible formats. So when she went on talk shows and the radio, folks could refer back to her online presence and see the same consistent messages repeated across all her platforms. By actively courting conversations about policy ideas like abolishing ICE, Medicare for all, and protecting worker’s rights, she challenged the idea that candidates are supposed to follow a certain script to “win.”
Alexandria also used this to her advantage in many cases; when she was met with racist dogwhistle messages around her victory, she came right back to her supporters and critics with this:
4. Aligning Money with Our Values
We need to expand our thinking on how we fund our campaigns and be transparent with our communities about where the money is coming from. The culture of relying on corporate PAC money is costing us. We are missing the opportunity to invite our people to join our campaign and to spend their money in a way that aligns with their values by donating. What’s more, we are blurring the line of who we are accountable to — is it our constituents or our donors?
The Ocasio-Cortez campaign raised $600,000 in their race. The majority of the money they raised came through small-dollar donations — most of them under $200. They refused corporate PAC money and let their communities know that.
On the other hand, the Crowley campaign significantly outraised them garnering nearly $3 million and openly accepting corporate PAC money.
Rather than be discouraged, Alexandria turned this against Crowley in the primary. She called out the hypocrisy of his campaign being funded by big money interests instead of the people of the district he’s supposed to be representing. The people of Bronx and Queens sided with her, and in the end, she won, despite having raised far less than her opponent.
Against all odds, Ocasio-Cortez showed that when we are honest about our message, when we are truthful about where our money comes from, when we are willing to speak clearly about the policies we believe in and the values that inform them, and we are willing to stand up to the establishment, what happens?
We not only win elections, but we can inspire movements.
Her win is a reminder of the urgent need in our country to change who we see as capable and viable leaders in politics. It’s what so many communities in our country — people of color, queer and trans folks, women, immigrants, the working class — have been telling mainstream politics for so long: you can’t win and improve the lives of all of us if you don’t include us.
Let’s expand our imagination in politics, and rethink who we see as leaders and what we see as possible. We need the political courage to demand justice for all our communities now, especially when so much around us threatens our ability to collectively thrive.
We’ll leave you with some words of inspiration from a campaign volunteer herself, Naureen Akhter:
So to everyone who’s ever been told no, wait your turn, don’t do it this way — do it anyway. And if you’re going to do it, make sure you want it with every last ounce of your being, so you pour every last bit of effort into it.
Inspired by this story? Want to learn how to run for office yourself, or get connected with folks who are? Learn more about our work and opportunities to get involved at www.repower.org
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