Here’s the Viral Ad That Helped Propel Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Her Stunning Upset Win

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is at the top of the headlines Wednesday for her stunning victory over Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) in the Democratic primary for New York’s 14th Congressional District. Crowley has served in Congress in 1999, and was thought by some insiders to be a leading candidate to become Speaker of the House — should Democrats gain a majority in November. But Ocasio-Cortez vanquished those lofty aspirations with her shocking primary win.

How did the 28-year-old political phenom pull it off? On May 30, Ocasio-Cortez released a two-minute ad — which promptly went viral and gave her the momentum she needed to gain traction in a race which reportedly saw her trailing by 35 points as recently as two weeks ago.

“Women like me aren’t supposed to run for office,” Ocasio-Cortez said via voiceover at the outset of the ad — which shows her boarding the subway and meeting with people in her community. “I wasn’t born to a wealthy or powerful family — mother from Puerto Rico, father from the South Bronx.”

She added, “Going into politics wasn’t in the plan. But after 20 years of the same representation, we have to ask, who has New York been changing for?”

According to The Intercept, the ad notched 300,000 views in its first day. The ad was produced by Detroit-based activists Naomi Burton and Nick Hayes — who discovered Ocasio-Cortez on Facebook, and reached out to her in March.

“Her message was bold,” Burton told The Intercept. “It was unapologetic. It had a clear leftist vision that I could understand as just a normal person, that I thought other working people could identify with. And after doing a little bit of digging, I realized she didn’t have a campaign video.”

Two months later, the video they produced undoubtedly helped catapult Ocasio-Cortez to a victory which has rocked Washington.

Watch above, via YouTube.

[featured image via screengrab]

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