6 of the most important things you need to know about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

In what has become one of the biggest upheavals in New York’s political history, a 28-year-old Latina Democratic socialist beat Representative Joe Crowley to become the next member of Congress in New York's 14th District.

Her name is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The Bronx-born Cortez won with a campaign costing just $600,000 (£454,300) – in comparison to her opponent’s $3 million (£2.27 million) campaign, and ousted Crowley, who had held the seat for 14 years.

She ran on a liberal platform that pushed for Medicare for all, abolishing ICE and advocating for a ban on high assault weapons in light of the string of fatal school shootings in the country.

With her historic win, here are some more things you should know about her:

1. Cortez has already made history.

The 28-year-old progressive made history even before she won, as the first Democratic socialist woman of colour running in the 14^th district of New York.

2. Cortez is the first woman of colour elected to office in NY-14.

This is despite the fact that 70 per cent of the district’s population is made up of people of colour.

3. Her campaign was run 100 per cent by volunteers, and without any lobbyist money.

She accepted no money from corporate donors.

4. Her auntie and uncle heard Malcom X preaching.

She told Vogue:

My aunt and my uncle were just talking last Christmas about how they literally heard Malcolm X evangelising on street corners. That is the institutional memory of my family and multigenerational New York families.

5. She travelled to a child detention camp and confronted border officers.

A cornerstone of her campaign is to abolish the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ‘ICE’, in light of news that some 2,000 children have been separated from their families and kept in detention centres.

6. Alexandria was an organiser for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential bid.

Sanders even congratulated her on her ‘extraordinary victory’.

More: Only 19 countries are still full democracies, report suggests

More: Florida shooting: Man sums up America's gun problem in one tweet