Democrat representative from New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez secured a second term in the United States Congress on Wednesday, AFP reported. With 71% of the votes counted, AOC, as she is popularly known, was leading her Republican rival John Cummings by over 38 percentage points, according to The New York Times.

Soon after her re-election was announced, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted thanking the voters. “Serving NY-14 and fighting for working class families in Congress has been the greatest honor, privilege, and responsibility of my life,” she wrote.

Cummings had raised more than $10 million (Rs 74 crore) for his campaign, while Ocasio-Cortez raised more than $17 million (Rs 126.80 crore), making the contest the second most expensive in the US House.

Ocasio-Cortez is part of a quartet of like-minded congresswomen known as “The Squad”, along with Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar, Massachusetts’ Ayanna Pressley and Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib, who are admired for challenging the Washington status quo. All four of them defeated their Republican rivals.

Omar tweeted photos of the four women with the message: “Our sisterhood is resilient.”

Ocasio-Cortez, the former organiser for Bernie Sanders and a long-time Democratic socialist senator from Vermont, rose to prominence due to her informal social media personality and being a relatable voice of the people.

She has been floated as a potential future challenger to New York’s Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, or a primary opponent against New York’s centrist Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2022, according to AFP.

Many of her supporters have also urged Ocasio-Cortez to consider a presidential run. Her first year of eligibility for the White House – the minimum age is 35 – would be in 2024.

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