Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is working hard to light a progressive path forward.
The representative from New York has been an outspoken household name ever since taking office in 2019. Now, she is among those leading the charge to speak out against President Donald Trump’s sweeping regressive agenda – and is breaking her own personal fundraising records in the process.
A Federal Elections Commission report released recently reveals that, in the first three months of 2025, she pulled in $9.6 million in contributions, largely in small donations averaging $21 – combined, they more than doubled her previous fundraising record for the same time period.
“I cannot convey enough how grateful I am to the millions of people supporting us with your time, resources, & energy,” Ocasio-Cortez posted on X about the cash influx. “Your support has allowed us to rally people together at record scale to organize their communities.”
Indeed, Ocasio-Cortez is presently using her means and platform to speak out against Trump and his administration by way of the ongoing national “Fight Oligarchy” tour headlined by longtime Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Even in conservative states like Utah and Montana, the left-leaning duo has been drawing in crowds by the thousands.
Admittedly, some Democrats have expressed concerns about their vision becoming the party standard, amid fears of losing voters by supporting causes like ensuring rights and protections for transgender Americans. But her unwillingness to compromise is seen as a boon to many others – especially since the 35-year-old lawmaker has been perceived as an unofficial successor to Sanders’ own progressive leadership and movement-building efforts. He even referred to her as his daughter – albeit in jest – at their recent Salt Lake City rally.
That said, both parties deny any official mentorship role. “The congresswoman believes supporters are not a commodity that can be inherited or handed off to any one person,” Mike Casca, Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, told Axios. “She remains focused on working with Sen. Sanders to organize the mass movement of working people this country needs right now.”
Either way though, their working relationship marks a refreshing change of pace amid a landscape full of aging legislators who seem reluctant at best, and unwilling at worst, to tap younger shoulders – despite an increasing inability among some of them to effectively do their jobs and attend sessions of Congress.
And, Ocasio-Cortez’s ongoing refusal to bend or back down on progressive pain points – such as mitigating climate change, supporting members of the LGBTQ community and ensuring safety and dignity for immigrants – is heartening on its own to progressive Americans.
As AOC noted to the press following the January 2025 passing of a bill banning trans women from women’s sports participation, champions of progressive causes can still emerge victorious from setbacks – as long as they’re willing to actually “throw a damn punch.”
