I first met Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in August 2017, at a picnic for the Queens branch of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). It was a hot, muggy day. I was with my children, and Alexandria came to meet with us without pushing any kind of agenda. She was stylish and charming, and everyone was extremely impressed. Her political vision spoke to the values and political goals of DSA.

But for a (then-) twenty-seven-year-old unknown to run for Congress in our district, NY-14, seemed like an impossibility. Alexandria would sometimes come to our branch meetings and speak about her campaign, but as NYC-DSA was focused on city council races in Brooklyn that fall we didn’t take the idea of supporting a long-shot candidate like herself seriously — taking on the “Queens Machine” seemed like a masochistic task at best. The Queens DSA branch had not yet run its own electoral operation, so taking on a multi-borough district of a half million people, with the highest levels of linguistic diversity, seemed overly ambitious. Some DSA members were reluctant to support an endorsement, despite liking Alexandria, for fear that her loss might hurt the organization’s reputation. But through our internal democratic processes, NYC-DSA endorsed Ocasio-Cortez on April 22, 2018, following a spirited debate at our Citywide Leadership Committee meeting.

Her opponent, Congressman Joe Crowley, was a high-ranking Democrat rumored to be next in line for speaker of the house. More importantly, Crowley seemed to wield superhuman power locally as the King of Queens. Standing 6’5” tall, bald, fifty-three years old, and probably the last of the old Irish ruling class of Queens, Crowley was called a “modern day Boss Tweed,” with a vast war chest and control of the Queens Democratic machine. As the chair, he makes judicial appointments and decides how to fill vacancies in special elections (in New York State, about one-third of all state legislature seats are handpicked in this way). Almost all Democratic seats in a highly Democratic county were decided with Crowley’s blessing (Queens county has about 2.4 million people, with a eight-to-one ratio of Democrats to Republicans, which means that the primary is the most contested race in almost all Queens elections). While some individuals might win against the machine, eventually they get incorporated — generally falling in lockstep with Crowley and the county committee. In addition to controlling Queens politics, Crowley brings his influence to bear on appointments like the powerful New York City Council chair: instituting a pro-real estate council speaker in 2017, and using the position to enrich his political allies.