Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born on October 13, 1989, in the Parkchester neighborhood of the Bronx.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born on October 13, 1989, in the Parkchester neighborhood of the Bronx. Her father, Sergio Ocasio Román, was a Bronx-born architect of Puerto Rican descent. Her mother, Blanca Ocasio-Cortez (née Cortés Rivera), was born in Puerto Rico and worked cleaning houses [1, 2].

In the mid-1990s, her parents pooled savings to buy a small home in Yorktown Heights, a Westchester County suburb, in part for school access. Ocasio-Cortez has frequently cited the contrast between her cousins' Bronx schools and her Yorktown schools as an early lesson about how zip codes shape opportunity [3, 2].

She graduated from Yorktown High School in 2007, after placing second in the microbiology category of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. The MIT Lincoln Laboratory subsequently named asteroid 23238 Ocasio-Cortez in her honor [4]. From 2007 to 2011 she attended Boston University, graduating cum laude with degrees in international relations and economics. While in college, she interned in the immigration office of Senator Edward Kennedy, an experience she has cited as exposing her to the human costs of family separations carried out by ICE [3, 2].

During her sophomore year of college, her father, Sergio Ocasio Román, died of cancer at 48, leaving no will. The family went through a difficult probate process and faced potential foreclosure on their home, an experience Ocasio-Cortez has discussed as formative [3].

Between 2011 and 2016, Ocasio-Cortez held multiple jobs in the Bronx and Manhattan.

Between 2011 and 2016, Ocasio-Cortez held multiple jobs in the Bronx and Manhattan. She returned to the Bronx, founded Brook Avenue Press (a children's publisher focused on positive Bronx stories), and worked as an educational director at the National Hispanic Institute. She supplemented her income by waiting tables and bartending at a Manhattan taqueria [5, 6]. She has talked openly about living paycheck to paycheck during this period, with monthly expenses including ACA health insurance and student loan repayment [3].

In 2016, Ocasio-Cortez worked as a volunteer organizer for Bernie Sanders's presidential primary campaign, primarily in the South Bronx [2, 5].

In 2016, Ocasio-Cortez worked as a volunteer organizer for Bernie Sanders's presidential primary campaign, primarily in the South Bronx [2, 5]. After the general election that December, she took a cross-country road trip with friends, visiting Flint, Michigan, and the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. She has described Standing Rock as a "tipping point" that pushed her toward seeking office [3].

In late 2016 and early 2017, she was recruited by Brand New Congress, a progressive PAC looking for non-traditional candidates. Her younger brother Gabriel had submitted her name. She agreed to run while still bartending in Union Square [4]. On May 30, 2018, her campaign released "The Courage to Change," a two-minute biographical video that went viral and helped pull national attention to the race [1].

On June 26, 2018, Ocasio-Cortez took 57.13 percent of the Democratic primary vote against the 10-term incumbent and Democratic Caucus chair, Joe Crowley, in what The New York Times and other outlets called the biggest Democratic primary upset of the cycle.

On June 26, 2018, Ocasio-Cortez took 57.13 percent of the Democratic primary vote against the 10-term incumbent and Democratic Caucus chair, Joe Crowley, in what The New York Times and other outlets called the biggest Democratic primary upset of the cycle. She had been outspent nearly 10-to-1 [1, 4, 7].

On November 6, 2018, she defeated Republican Anthony Pappas, who did not actively campaign. At age 29, she became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, the first woman of color to represent NY-14, and (alongside Rashida Tlaib) one of the first two women elected to Congress who were members of the Democratic Socialists of America [1, 5].

Ocasio-Cortez was sworn in on January 3, 2019, joining the 116th Congress and quickly becoming the most-followed member on social media [5].

Ocasio-Cortez was sworn in on January 3, 2019, joining the 116th Congress and quickly becoming the most-followed member on social media [5]. On February 7, 2019, her first piece of legislation, co-introduced with Senator Ed Markey, framed climate response as a 10-year economic mobilization akin to the New Deal or the Marshall Plan. The Green New Deal resolution did not advance to passage but became the policy frame for an ongoing Democratic argument about climate [8, 6].

On February 27, her sharp questioning of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen during the House Oversight hearing went viral. Multiple outlets noted how her five-minute round of questions laid out a roadmap for investigating Trump's tax and asset valuations [9].

Ocasio-Cortez was re-elected in November 2020, defeating Republican John Cummings [1].

Ocasio-Cortez was re-elected in November 2020, defeating Republican John Cummings [1]. On July 23, 2020, she delivered an 11-minute floor speech responding to Rep. Ted Yoho, after Yoho was overheard by a reporter calling her a profane slur on the Capitol steps. The speech became one of her most-watched congressional moments [10].

She delivered a 97-second speech seconding Bernie Sanders's nomination at the Democratic National Convention on August 18, 2020 [9]. The following year, on September 13, 2021, she attended the Met Gala in a white Brother Vellies gown bearing the slogan "Tax the Rich" in red across the back, sparking both praise and ethics scrutiny [11].

She was re-elected to her third term in November 2022 [1]. By April 2024, per New York Times reporting summarized in Ballotpedia, her campaign committee had raised more than $37 million since 2019, with another $11.1 million raised for non-federal candidates and causes [5].

She returned to the DNC stage on August 19, 2024, this time during Vice President Kamala Harris's nomination cycle [6]. In November 2024, she was re-elected to her fourth term, defeating Republican Tina Forte [3].

On June 5, 2025, Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Zohran Mamdani for mayor as her top-ranked-choice pick, a decision widely treated as a defining moment of the NYC mayoral primary.

On June 5, 2025, Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Zohran Mamdani for mayor as her top-ranked-choice pick, a decision widely treated as a defining moment of the NYC mayoral primary. The Times reported she was choosing "the candidate closest to her own mold", a fellow Queens-based, millennial, Democratic Socialist of America member [12, 5].

She, Sanders, and Mamdani headlined the closing-stretch "New York Is Not For Sale" rally at Forest Hills Stadium on October 26, 2025 [6], with Ocasio-Cortez delivering separate remarks at a related rally on October 28 that's archived among her most-cited recent public addresses [6].

Ocasio-Cortez gave one of the most-quoted speeches at Mamdani's January 1, 2026, inauguration, declaring that New Yorkers had "chosen courage over fear" and "chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few" [13].

Ocasio-Cortez gave one of the most-quoted speeches at Mamdani's January 1, 2026, inauguration, declaring that New Yorkers had "chosen courage over fear" and "chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few" [13]. On March 12, 2026, she introduced the Fair Wages for Home Care Workers Act (H.R.7917), with 66 co-sponsors. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. As of April 2026, Congress.gov listed her as a sponsor or co-sponsor on more than 4,500 measures [14].

In April 2026, Ocasio-Cortez announced she would oppose all future U.S. military aid to Israel, including aid for defensive systems, a notable shift from her earlier positions and a step further than most House Democrats had been willing to take [3]. Her current term in the House runs through January 3, 2027 [5].