LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Self-described democratic socialist New York congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hosted her second Los Angeles campaign fundraiser in two days tonight.
Ocasio-Cortez was to participate in a conversation “about running a people-powered campaign, taking on the political establishment, and how to mobilize communities across Los Angeles in pursuit of a better, socialist future,” according to Democratic Socialists of America Los Angeles, which organized the event at the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles in Koreatown.
Ocasio-Cortez hosted a fundraising luncheon at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in downtown Los Angeles Thursday with tickets priced at $27 and $50, according to Michelle Manos, who helped organize the event.
More than $12,000 was raised, Manos told City News Service.
Ocasio-Cortez toured skid row later Thursday.
“From NYC to LA, runaway housing markets, community displacement, & lack of mental health services is creating an exploding national homelessness crisis,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “Today I walked through LA's Skid Row. This what a crisis of greed, speculation, + apathy looks like. And it is unacceptable.”
A 48-second video of Ocasio-Cortez walking on a street next to a sidewalk filled with tents accompanied the tweet.
The 28-year-old defeated 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley in the June 26 Democratic primary in New York's 14th Congressional District, which consists of portions of the New York City boroughs of the Bronx and Queens. Crowley is the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, the fourth-highest ranking position in House Democratic Leadership.
Ocasio-Cortez is virtually certain to be elected in November in the overwhelmingly Democratic district, which would make her the youngest woman elected to Congress. She will turn 29 on Oct. 13.
Ocasio-Cortez's platform includes supporting “Medicare For All,” abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, making public colleges and trade schools tuition-free and reforming “campaign finance laws that undermine democracy for the benefit of corporate interests.”
After graduating cum laude from Boston University's College of Arts and Sciences in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in economics and international relations, Ocasio-Cortez worked as a bartender and a waitress in New York City; established a publishing firm, Brook Avenue Press, that specializes in children's literature that portrays the Bronx in a positive light. She also was an educator.
Ocasio-Cortez worked as an organizer for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign.