Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress on Tuesday, said she can’t afford to rent an apartment in Washington, D.C., which she said is proof the electoral system doesn’t accommodate the leadership of working-class people.
Ocasio-Cortez, who was working as a bartender earlier this year, told the New York Times that because her congressional salary doesn’t kick in until January, it’s hard to afford rents in the nation’s expensive capital.
“I have three months without a salary before I’m a member of Congress,” Ocasio-Cortez told the Times. “So, how do I get an apartment? Those little things are very real.”
“We’re kind of just dealing with the logistics of it day by day, but I’ve really been just kind of squirreling away and then hoping that gets me to January,” she added.
“There are many little ways in which our electoral system isn’t even designed (nor prepared) for working-class people to lead,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Thursday, referring to the story. “This is one of them (don’t worry btw – we’re working it out!).”
There are many little ways in which our electoral system isn’t even designed (nor prepared) for working-class people to lead.
This is one of them (don’t worry btw – we’re working it out!)
⬇️ https://t.co/PEQ5ccSDSO— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 8, 2018
Ocasio-Cortez told the Times that she hopes the money she saved from bartending would last until January.
Ocasio-Cortez, a socialist, defeated Democratic incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in June during the primary race. She then beat her Republican opponent Anthony Pappas Tuesday night and will represent New York’s 14th Congressional District in the next Congress.
She ran on progressive positions such as “Medicare for all” and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
